When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well (it is well)
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
~Horatio G. Spafford
/~/
The other day I was reading through the blog Dewdrops of Joy and discovered, as she had, that this well-known song has two verses that a lot of people (including myself) don’t even know about. I don’t know why these verses aren’t in songbooks, especially since they’re amazing verses!
A lot of people are afraid of death; or perhaps, more accurately, of what comes after death. But Christians, as Horatio Spafford pointed out in his song, don’t have to fear because “in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.”
And then comes my new favorite line: “The sky, not the grave, is our goal.” As I wrote about earlier, the purpose of life is not to arrive safely at death; we are not born to die–we’re born to live. Yes, someday our bodies will die; but we have eternal souls. And as believers in and followers of Christ, we know where our souls will end up–in heaven.
In a sermon a long time ago, my pastor said, “The sky is the limit for believers.” I believe he was talking about things we can do, and how with God’s help we are unstoppable. But I’m gonna apply it here and say: the sky is the limit–and the goal–for believers; the grave isn’t our final resting place. We’re destined for the skies, not a hole in the ground!
I don’t know how many of you know the story behind this song, but it’s amazing too. Horatio Spafford’s wife and four daughters were sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, while he stayed behind in America, intending to join them later. The ship collided with another and sank; all four daughters died. As Spafford traveled to join his wife, his ship passed by close to the spot where his daughters drowned, and he was inspired to write this song.
Wow. He experienced great tragedy, huge trials, and yet he declared, “It is well with my soul.” So may it be with us.
