It Is Well with My Soul
Words: Horatio Spafford, 1873 · Tune "Ville du Havre": Philip Bliss, 1876 · Public domain
Verse 1
CWhen peace, like a Friver, Cattendeth my way
CWhen sorrows like Fsea billows Croll
G7Whatever my Flot, Thou hast Ctaught me to Gsay
GIt is Cwell, it is G7well, with my Fsoul
Chorus
CIt is G7well F
CWith my soul F
FIt is G7well, it is well, with my Csoul
Verse 2
CThough FSatan should Cbuffet, though trials should come
CLet this blest Fassurance control C
G7That CChrist has Fregarded my Chelpless Gestate
GAnd hath Cshed His own G7blood for my Fsoul
Verse 3
CMy Fsin, oh the Cbliss of this glorious thought
CMy sin, not in Fpart but the whole C
G7Is Cnailed to the Fcross, and I Cbear it no Gmore
GPraise the CLord, praise the G7Lord, O my Fsoul
Chords in the key of C
- C
- F
- G
- G7
About this hymn
- Words
- Horatio Gates Spafford, 1873
- Music
- VILLE DU HAVRE, Philip P. Bliss, 1876
- Meter
- 11.8.11.9 with refrain
- In
- 601 hymnals
- Scripture
- Psalm 103, Romans 5:1, 1 Corinthians 15:52
The story
Horatio Spafford was a Chicago lawyer. The 1871 fire wiped out his real estate, and the slump of 1873 made things worse. Later that year he sent his wife Anna and their four girls ahead to Europe by ship while he stayed back on business tied to the fire. On November 22, 1873, the Ville du Havre was struck by another ship and went down. Two hundred twenty six people died, the four daughters among them. Anna cabled him two words, saved alone. He wrote this text crossing the Atlantic to reach her, near the water where the girls died. Philip Bliss wrote the tune and named it for the ship. Bliss died in 1876, the year it was printed.
Where it fits in a service
Often used at a homegoing, in a service touching grief or comfort, and as a solo before the sermon. It also works quietly during communion when the room needs settling.
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