It Is Well With My Soul: the words, the story, and its place at a funeral
Horatio Spafford wrote It Is Well With My Soul in 1873, weeks after his four daughters drowned in the Atlantic. Families who know the story choose it for a funeral because the man who wrote “whatever my lot” had lost more than most people in the room.
Why is It Is Well With My Soul sung at funerals? Its words hold grief and trust together: the first verse names “sorrows like sea billows” and still ends “it is well with my soul”. The refrain repeats one short phrase, so a congregation that has never sung the hymn can join in by the second verse.
We provide soloists, organists, and choirs for funerals across London and the rest of the UK, and can lead the congregation in It Is Well With My Soul.
We have not filmed It Is Well With My Soul yet. This is our chorus of twelve leading There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, which shows how a choir carries a congregation through a hymn. Hear more recordings.
The words of It Is Well With My Soul
Spafford’s text is out of copyright. Most hymn books print four verses, each followed by the refrain; the wording below is the common one, and some books change “my faith” to “the faith” in the last verse, as Spafford’s manuscript has it.
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.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.
For a shorter hymn, sing the first, second, and last verses. Tell us which verses the order of service prints and we will sing those.
Spafford wrote it after losing his daughters
Horatio Spafford was a Chicago lawyer and a friend of the evangelist Dwight L. Moody. In November 1873 he planned to take his family to England, where Moody was preaching. Business after the Great Chicago Fire kept him at home, so he sent his wife, Anna, and their four daughters ahead on the French steamer Ville du Havre.
On 22 November the ship collided with the Loch Earn, an iron sailing ship, in mid-Atlantic and sank; 226 people died. Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta Spafford were among them. Anna survived and, on landing at Cardiff, sent her husband a telegram that began “Saved alone”.
Spafford sailed to join her. The traditional account says he wrote the hymn as his ship passed near the place where his daughters had drowned. Whether or not he wrote it on that crossing, he wrote it within weeks of the news, and a family at a funeral can hear that in the first verse.
Sources: “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Horatio Spafford”, Wikipedia.
Philip Bliss wrote the tune
The American gospel composer Philip Bliss set Spafford’s words and named the tune Ville du Havre, after the ship. It was published in 1876 in Gospel Hymns No. 2, which Bliss edited with Ira Sankey, Moody’s song leader.
The tune is gentle and moves mostly by step. In the refrain the lower voices echo “it is well” after the melody, which gives a choir something to do and the congregation a clear cue. The organ can carry the hymn alone; with even four singers the echo comes through.
British congregations know the hymn less well than Abide With Me or The Lord’s My Shepherd. Free Church and evangelical congregations sing it often; in a parish church or crematorium chapel, one strong voice leading the hymn helps the room find the tune.
Source: “Philip Bliss”, Wikipedia.
Where it sits in a funeral
We suggest it after the eulogy or tributes. By then the congregation has heard about the person’s life, and the refrain lets everyone answer together. It also works as the closing hymn if the family wants the service to end on trust more than farewell.
It pairs well with a hymn the whole room knows. Open with The Lord’s My Shepherd, sing It Is Well after the tributes, and close with Abide With Me or Love Divine. Our guide to popular funeral hymns covers the other common choices, and our memorial service songs guide covers a thanksgiving service held later.
In Greater London a soloist costs £275, a soloist with an organist £550 and a choir of four £1,150, with travel added outside London. The pricing page lists every size.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote It Is Well With My Soul?
Horatio Spafford, a Chicago lawyer, wrote the words in 1873 after his four daughters died when the Ville du Havre sank in the Atlantic. Philip Bliss wrote the tune, named after the ship, and published it in 1876.
Is It Is Well With My Soul suitable for a funeral?
Yes. The words face grief directly and end in trust, and the refrain is easy for a congregation to pick up. It suits a Christian funeral of any denomination.
Are the words of It Is Well With My Soul out of copyright?
Yes. Spafford died in 1888 and Bliss in 1876, so both the words and the tune are in the public domain and can be printed in an order of service. A modern arrangement may still be in copyright.
How many verses of It Is Well should we sing?
Most hymn books print four. For a shorter service, sing the first, second, and last, each with the refrain.
How much does it cost to have It Is Well With My Soul sung at a funeral?
In Greater London a soloist costs £275, a soloist with an organist £550, and a choir of four £1,150, which covers the rehearsal and the service. We add travel for funerals outside London.
Ask us about the hymns
If you would like It Is Well With My Soul in the service and want to know where it fits, or whether the congregation will know it, get in touch. Asking costs nothing.
Tell us about the service you’re planning
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