The phrase “it is well with my soul” is a one commonly used by Christians, found on shirts and coffee mugs and used by people to describe how they are doing. While this phrase sounds like it might be from the Bible and certainly describes a biblical truth, I have not found the exact phrase from the Bible. Where does it come from then? A beloved hymn of the faith that is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its publication here in 2026. That’s right, it came out the exact same year (1876) as another great hymn of the faith that is still sung by many today – “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.” Just as I did in a previous post celebrating the anniversary of that hymn, I wanted to say “happy birthday” to this great hymn by sharing more about who wrote it and its words.

The Writer(s)
Like many other hymns, this song actually has two writers, as one person wrote the words and one person wrote the music. These two men knew each other, and both of their lives were marked by tragedy.

The words of the songs were penned by Horatio Spafford (1828-1888). Spafford wasn’t a pastor but rather a lay person, a lawyer who lived in Chicago and a friend of famous evangelist D.L. Moody. Like many others living in Chicago in that era, he was greatly affected by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, losing his real estate investments in the fire. However, that was not the greatest tragedy that he faced nor the impetus behind this song. That came a couple of years later when his family was going on a trip to England (I’ve read that this trip was either a family vacation or was being taken to assist Moody’s ministry there). Spafford sent his wife and 4 daughters to England ahead of him, as he had to tend to some business before he could depart. Their ship collided with another, an accident that left 226 dead – including Spafford’s four daughters whose ages at the time ranged from 2 to 12. Spafford’s wife, Anna, survived, sending a telegraph to her husband when she arrived in Wales that said “Saved alone.” 

Some accounts of the song’s origins then say that he wrote these words while on the boat to meet his wife and seeing the spot where his daughters died. However, it seems more likely that the song was written a bit later, reflecting upon and inspired by his experience at that time. Ira Sankey, who was the music leader for D.L. Moody, wrote about visiting the Spaffords in 1876 and that Horatio wrote the song at that time. Sankey passed the words along to a colleague of his named Philip Bliss (1838-1876), who composed the music to this song, and the song was published later that year in a collection of hymns (Gospel Hymns No. 2). 

While most of the attention on the song’s story focuses on Spafford, I think Mr. Bliss is also worthy of attention. He was a musician and teacher of music who eventually moved to Chicago and connected with D.L. Moody. An interesting historical note related to this song is that Moody would actually ask Bliss to be the music leader for his 1873 ministry in England, the very work that seemed to precipitate Spafford’s travels to England. Bliss declined, which led to Sankey going on that trip instead, and in the following years Bliss would also engage in his own evangelistic work. However, that does not mean that he gave up music, as he would edit hymnals with Sankey and also compose many songs; the most famous song that he composed words and music for is “”Hallelujah, What a Saviour!” (1875). By far his most famous work is the music he composed for “It Is Well” in 1876, just a few months before his death. He and his wife died in December of that year in a train accident, leaving behind two young children and further shrouding the story of this song in tragedy.

The Words
Like many other songs of the time – including “Nothing But the Blood” – the song consists both of verses and a refrain that is repeated after each verse. Most editions of the hymn feature four verses, but at times there are six verses. It is not clear if those additional verses were originally written by Spafford, as an early copy of the hymn written by Spafford only includes the four that are most commonly sung. Thus, I’ll only include the words for those four verses and the refrain. 

Verse 1
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
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

Verse 2
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

Verse 3
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!

Verse 4
O Lord, haste the day when my 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

Sometimes, people refer to this song by the opening words of “When peace like a river.” While those words and the ones in the next line both use imagery of water, they do so in vastly different ways. One speaks about a peaceful river and the other a raging sea, as the term “sea billows” describes great winds and waves. This contrast, though, is the heart of the song, that one can find peace even in difficult times; that we can still say “it is well with my soul” even when all is not well in the world. No matter what is happening in life (“whatever my lot”), we can say “it is well with my soul.” 

The second verse talks more about the cause of some of the pain and also the reason that we can say “it is well.” When we see the word “buffet,” we usually think of large quantities of food to choose from, but the word is also an old English word that speaks of violently striking someone; while we might say today that waves batter us, 150 years ago we might have said that those violent waves are buffeting us. The song does not talk about water here, though, but rather Satan, reminding us that we are in a spiritual battle and that Satan is the ultimate cause of the pain in this world. Trials will come our way, but we can say “it is well” because of what God has done for us; He has not left us but rather sent Christ to rescue helpless people by shedding his blood for our sin. The point is that when we look at our difficult circumstances, we need to also remember the difficulties that Christ went through for us, which shows both God’s love and power.

The third verse is my favorite as it talks about a thought that causes “bliss” (I now wonder if this was also the favorite verse for the one who wrote the music since his name was Bliss!). The thought that causes bliss is that it is not just some of our sin, but all of our sin that Jesus bore on the cross – and because of that “I bear it no more.” What else can be said about that truth other than the words that follow: “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!” Not only does our soul have reason to still be well even in the challenges of this world, we have reason to praise.

Another feature of this hymn that is powerful but not unique to it is the focus of the final verse on the return of Christ. We are reminded that a day will come when “the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend.” When we are facing challenges in this life, we need to remember that this world will not stay broken forever but that all will be made well when Christ returns. We should look forward and long for that day, asking for it to come quickly (“haste the day”), but until we see that, we should maintain faith that the day will come and because of that faith, we can say “it is well with my soul.” 

The Wrap-up
One final note about the song’s background worth mentioning is what happened to Horatio Spafford after he wrote it. He and his wife would have additional children, but one of these children would die as a child. This additional tragedy seems to have affected his faith, as they would leave their Presbyterian church and establish their own religious community with some unorthodox Christian beliefs (denying hell). They eventually moved to Jerusalem in 1881, establishing what was called “The American Colony” there, which did humanitarian work but also had some odd practices such as requiring celibacy and separating children from parents. Spafford would die in Jerusalem a few years later. His life after writing this song is a good reminder of the need for faith in order to continue to endure and how those who speak and even write wonderful truths may not maintain them to the end. We may have said “it is well” in the face of past circumstances, but we need to continue to say it. May the words of this hymn help us keep on saying “it is well with my soul.”

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