Hymns: It Is Well

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. So, every three days, I explore a very modern song, and today it’s the turn of very modern songs.

Today’s song is It Is Well from 2015 by Kristene DiMarco.

It was inspired by, and builds on, the older song, It Is Well With My Soul, which was written by Horatio Spafford in 1873 after the tragic death of his four daughters in a shipwreck. He wrote the hymn while traveling across the Atlantic to meet his grieving wife; he passed over the approximate location where his daughters drowned.

The modern song was also inspired by the biblical story of Jesus calming the storm and by personal life struggles. It’s a lovely spiritual song. I’m so glad that I’ve stopped dismissing modern songs. I find this one every bit as uplifting as the old hymn. Here are a couple of versions of the older hymn:

A key point of both hymns is how the cross of Christ shows God’s commitment to all who trust in him.

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

This doesn’t mean that God will always rush in and stop our trials. He sometimes does, but other times, he has a purpose in them. I think of Jesus and the Apostle Paul praying that a future or present trial would pass. But both left it in the Father’s hands.

Matt 26:39
³⁹ He went a little farther. Then he fell with his face to the ground. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering away from me. But let what you want be done, not what I want.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
⁷ God has shown me amazing and wonderful things. People should not think more of me because of it. So I wouldn’t become proud of myself, I was given a problem. This problem caused pain in my body. It is a messenger from Satan to make me suffer. ⁸ Three times I begged the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So I am very happy to brag about how weak I am. Then Christ’s power can rest on me. 

In relation to eternity, this life is a short “boot camp”. That thought doesn’t always completely comfort us, but we can gain some bit of comfort by knowing that God is in control and that he knows what He is doing. And I think that it’s perfectly fine to continually hope and pray that the trial will end. Perhaps the Apostle Paul might have hoped that his problem would go away, but for the moment, he drew comfort from the fact that God was at work.

And here are some interesting versions of both the original and modern hymn: