The words of a song speak to me far more than the music. I have always wanted to sit down with the old time writers and just talk about their inspiration.

One of the songs from Sunday's worship service at my apartment complex was written by Horatio Spafford and the music was penned by the great Gospel composer, Philip Bliss. The poem Horatio Spafford (what a great name!) wrote in 1873 has always stirred my spirit, usually making me fight the tears. It affects me like no other song.

Horatio grew up in Troy, New York. The Hudson River runs through Troy and there it is slow and wide. Later he would become very familiar with the Atlantic Ocean. The first two lines of his poem are, When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll. Oh my, I have sat next to peaceful water and felt a deep comfort and I have sat next to rolling waves with the sound and vibration and felt the pain and sadness of the moment in my life! I identify with the words! Then, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Yes! Whether peaceful or roaring, it is water, the most necessary thing for life. Jesus, the Living Water! He has control.

Then the second verse. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come. Certainly, we have felt Satan. The closer we get to the Lord and the more we serve Him, the more we feel the Satanic 'buffet.' But there are many trials that are not of Satan. They are the things that come in life. The Lord never said trials would not come, just the opposite. We will struggle. However, whether the difficulty comes from Satan or just from life, the Lord walks with us. The verse continues; Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And has shed His own blood for my soul! Christ knows our situation and our struggle! We have won! He has taken care of all of it. We can be in dark days, but we know we are still in the Light.

Then the third verse. This verse is the one that gets me. This verse infuses me with hope and praise. My sin---oh the bliss of this glorious thought--- My sin, not in part but the whole, The Roman Catholics have different levels of sin. Murder is worse than adultery and so forth. While a Protestant might reject that, the Protestant will still justify their sin. "I took some paper clips from work, and a stapler, but that is not so bad. They can afford it." But the Biblical reality is that the simplest sin will send us to Hell. When Horatio says 'my sin, not in part but the whole,' he is talking all of it. Every sin ever. The verse continues; Is nailed to the Cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Oh my soul! Horatio understands that his sin is horrible before the Lord, but he also understands that the Christ on the Cross is the same Christ who rose from the grave and sits on the right hand of God and pleads his case. Horatio's Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Oh my soul! is more powerful and more gut wrenching than any praise song from today. You can disagree, but that is my take.

But it doesn't end there. There are three more verses, but in most hymnals verses four and five are not added. Verse six, the last verse, is the verse I want to end on. And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight, Horatio had faith that Christ died for him. Now he is asking that the Lord, sooner than later, cause that faith that he feels so deeply, to turn into reality. He wants to see the Savior! The clouds be rolled back as a scroll Horatio was a lawyer. At that time the verdict in a trial was on a scroll that would be rolled open and the verdict read. And then the verdict, The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul! The verdict is in.

Horatio was born in Troy, New York and grew up there. He studied and became a lawyer and moved to Chicago to practice law, all the while being faithful to his Lord. He was known as a fine, upstanding Christian and was friends with D.L. Moody. He became quite successful and began to buy properties. Then in 1871 the great Chicago fire happened. Over 100,000 people were left homeless and Horatio lost most of the properties he and his wife owned. Even so, Horatio and his wife Anna poured their financial wealth into aiding those who had lost everything. 

In 1873, Moody wanted Horatio to join him in England for a series of evangelistic crusades. Horatio decided to take Anna and their four daughters as a break from a rebuilding Chicago. He sent his wife and daughters on ahead while he stayed behind to tend to one last business matter. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship his family was on was rammed by another ship. Their ship went down in twelve minutes. Anna was one of the few survivors. She was pulled unconscious from the ocean. She lived, but the daughters, ages 11, 9, 5 and 2 all perished. The survivors were taken to Cardiff, South Wales, where Anna sent a telegram to Horatio telling him of the awful tragedy. He left immediately for England to be with his wife. On his crossing the captain of the ship Horatio was on, had him come to the chart cabin. There the captain pointed out on the chart where Horatio's daughters had perished. They were crossing that spot at that very moment. The story goes that he returned to his cabin and wrote the poem, "It Is Well With My Soul." When sorrows like sea billows roll........