As a part of our series, “Sermons from our Favorite Songs,” I wish for us to examine the thoughts and the theology behind this particular song…
VERSE 1 – WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO SAY…
The verse begins by suggesting the overwhelming experience of rivers and sea billows: “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well with my soul.”
There is a person in the Bible who lost a child and her situation reminds me much of the words of Spafford’s song. Would you turn in your copy of God’s word to 2 Kings 4:18ff? God has the power of life and death in His hands. God has the power of peace or sorrow in His hands. We cannot see what God is doing in our lives. We simply have to walk by faith but it is stories like this, and of course the Bible is full of them, which teach us to say, “It is well with our soul.”
VERSE 2 – CHRIST HAS REGARDED MY HELPLESS ESTATE…
“Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.”
Let us get it into our heads that troubles originate from Satan. Evil, temptations, death: they are all a result of Satan’s workings. Let’s not allow people to get away with blaming God for the troubles in this world. Yes, God allows it to happen, as a result of God giving us free will. But Satan is the instigator of it all. And although Satan “should buffet,” although Satan should bring “trials,” Spafford encourages us to remember “this blest assurance,” that it should “control” the thoughts in our hearts: “Christ has regarded our helpless estate and has shed His own blood for our soul.”
Consider the words of Exodus 1:11-14 and see how Satan was buffeting the Israelites and bringing trials into their lives. Then, read 2:23-25 and see how God regarded their “helpless estate,” and He began making arrangements to bring freedom to His people. “God remembered” summarizes God’s attitude for His people when they (and we) are experiencing trials and hardships.
VERSE 3 – MY SIN IS NAILED TO THE CROSS:
Sometimes we suffer due to our own sins, but if our sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ, then “it is well with my soul.” “My sin – O, the bliss of this glorious tho’t! – My sin – not in part but the whole, is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O, my soul!”
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If there were one thought that I could impress as deeply as possible into my heart and yours, the thought that would comfort our hearts through every crisis and every trial of life it is this simple thought: As a Christian, your sins are forgiven, and nothing else really matters. You might not realize this but the NT does not explicitly say that our sin was nailed to the cross. Two things were “nailed” to the cross in the NT: Jesus’ body and the law of Moses (Col. 2:13-15).
Yes, on the cross, Jesus nailed our sins to His cross so that we can carry them no more. That is ultimately why “it is well with our souls.” We have the forgiveness of our sins. We are holy in the eyes of God. We are blameless in the eyes of God. We are beyond reproach in the eyes of God. All because of the blood Christ shed for us. “It is well with our souls.”
VERSE 4 – HASTE THE DAY WHEN FAITH SHALL BE SIGHT!
Sometimes, the strongest encouragement we have to the trails of life is simply the fact that we have a better body and home waiting for us in heaven… “And, Lord, haste the day when the 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.”
You know the biblical definition of “faith” from Hebrews 11:1. The word “assurance” means “reality.” Please note that: “faith is the reality of things hoped for.” In other words, you don’t see it, you hope for it, but in your mind, it is reality. Why? Because you have such strong reasons to hope for it!
Faith is the “conviction of things not seen.” “Conviction” can be translated “events.” Note that: faith is the “events not seen.” In other words, you cannot physically or literally see yourself in the presence of God, in the presence of Christ, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, worshiping at the throne of God. You cannot physically or literally see those things happening. But you do see those things through the eye of faith! Your faith is firmly based on evidence, evidence that God exists, the God of the Bible exists, evidence that the Bible is God’s message to us today, faith based on evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. We do not have a “blind faith” or a “leap in the dark” kind of faith. It is a faith that is based on reason and on revelation and that faith sees what our physical eyes cannot see.
What we see is the day when Christ returns, when the clouds are rolled back as a scroll and the trumpet sounds and the Lord descends from heaven to take us home to be with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is why “it is well with our soul.” We have such great blessings to anticipate.
It does not matter what we endure in life, if we have peace with God, it can be “well with our souls.” If our sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ, we are ready to stand before the God of mercy, in judgment, and hear those blessed words: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of your Lord” (Matt. 25:21).
Paul Holland
