It Is Well
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of tham all.
Psalm 34:19
When the great Chicago fire consumed the Windy City in 1871, Horatio G. Spafford, an attorney heavily invested in real estate, lost a fortune. About that time, his only son, age 4, succumbed to scarlet fever. Horatio drowned his grief in work, pouring himself into rebuilding the city and assisting the 100,000 who had been left homeless.
In November of 1873, he decided to take his wife and daughters to Europe. Horatio was close to D.L. Moody and Ira Snakey, and he wanted to visit their evangelistic meetings in England, then enjoy a vacation.
When an urgent matter detained Horatio in New York, he decided to send his wife, Anna, their four daughters, Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie, on ahead. As he saw them settled into a cabin aboard the luxurious French liner Ville du Havre, an unease filled his mind, and he moved them to a room closer to the bow of the ship. Then he said good-bye, promising to join them soon.
During the small hours on November 22, 1873, as the Ville du Havre glided over smooth seas, the passengers were jolted from their bunks. The ship had collided with an iron sailing vessel, and water poured in like Niagra. The Ville du Havre tilted dangerously. Screams, prayers, and oaths merged into a nightmare of unmeasured terror. Passengers clung to posts, tumbled through darkness, and were swept away by powerful currents of icy ocean. Loved ones fell from each other's grasp and disappeared into foaming blackness. Within two hours, the mighty ship vanished beneath the waters. The 226 fatalities included Maggie, Tanetta, Annie and Bessie. Mrs. Stafford was found nearly unconscious, clinging to a piece of the wreckage. When the 47 survivors landed in Cardiff, Wales, she called her husband: "Saved Alone."
Horatio immediately booked passage to join his wife. En route, on a cold December night, the captain called him aside and said, "I believe we are now passing over the place where the Ville du Havre went down." Spafford went to his cabin but found it hard to sleep. He said to himself, "It is well; the will of God be done." he later wrote his famous hymn based on those words.
Excerpt from "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan
Thomas Nelson Publishers
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The music you are hearing is available for purchase!
"It Is Well" can be found on Dino's album Quiet Inspiration CD, along with many other wonderful hymns.
Click here to purchase this album! Also sample other tracks on the album online!
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Be sure to come back next week. We will be featuring "" -
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Current Note:
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When peace like a riv-er At-tend---deth my way, When sor-rows,
Like sea bil-lows roll; What-ev-er my lot, Thou hast taught
me to say, "It is well, it is well, with my soul. It is well,
It is well, with my soul, with my soul It is well It is well
with my soul
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© 2006 DCK Music Group
All Rights Reserved
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