Talk About – Songs & Hymns: It Is Well

Published On: June 15, 2017

Overview

This session was based around the hymn It Is Well, With My Soul (Spafford, 1876), a hymn glorifying God even when we find ourselves in difficult situations, and comparing it with the newer song It Is Well, With My Soul (Redman, 2015) which follows similar ideas.

Questions

All the lyrics and questions are found in the booklet but you can get the questions in PDF form HERE!

Background

Spafford was a lawyer who lost most of his wealth in the Chicago fire; he was coming to work in Britain and sent his wife and four daughters on ahead, their ship sank and only his wife survived. As he sailed to Britain himself, the captain indicated the point when the ship was thought to have sank, and he is said to have written the hymn during the crossing. Later he had two more children, a son and daughter, the son died aged 4 due to scarlet fever (Hawn, 2011).

Video 1

Audrey Assad – It Is Well, With My Soul

Video 2

Matt Redman – It Is Well, With My Soul

Summary

When reading about the situation Spafford went through we can find ourselves thinking about Job; he was tried and tested yet his faith remained strong. Spafford lost everything except his wife, yet he wrote this hymn which grounds his faith firmly in Jesus blood and righteousness instead of turning away. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says:

“6Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. 7And God’s peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

Furthermore, when God spoke to Joshua about leading His people, He said:

“9Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.” – Joshua 1:9

Therefore, no matter what situation we find ourselves in we can count on God to be with us through it. Our struggles may not be as tragic as Spafford’s, but through our struggles we can either turn away or stay strong in our faith, it is only when we accept our struggles as something we can overcome with God on our side can we truly be at peace with it and say “It is well, with my soul”.

References

  • Bible (n.d.) NIV Bible. Bible Gateway [online]. Available at: https://www.biblegateway.com (Accessed: 10 May 2017).
  • Hawn, C.M. (2011) History of Hymns: “It is well with my Soul”. Discipleship Ministries [online]. Available at: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-it-is-well-with-my-soul (Accessed: 5 February 2017).
  • Redman, M. (2015) It Is Well, With My Soul
  • Spafford, H. G. (1876) It Is Well, With My Soul