It is Well…It is Well; With my Soul…With My Soul

It Is Well With My Soul

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 has 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!

And 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.

We sang this hymn with an amazing back story in house church last night, and I feel compelled to share it. For a more complete listing of the verses see here (warning: this is accompanied by a MIDI track). I think that this is the best rendering on Youtube, though this gentleman has an amazing voice.

Here is what struck me last night. I think that the tune and the evocative phrase “peace like a river” are some of the things that make this hymn so popular and one that I, and I assume others, want to sing when they need to bathe in that river. And, yet, I realized last night that bathing in that river is not really not what the song is about. Rather it is really about what sustains us when we do not feel that peace. It is a reminder that as Christians that A) God has redeemed us at great price and in great love, and B) that he has got us for good, no matter our mental and emotional states which vary so much.

Now I know that even if I do not necessarily sink down into that peaceful river when we sing this song (which often enough I do), that it is exactly when I do not that the song means the most.