The Old Hymns

This morning as I was making up my bed, I was thinking about how much I love the old hymns.  Yes, I love contemporary songs too, but the hymns are songs that I can tell the author's story about sometimes and those stories mean so much.

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss.

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died." -- excerpt from Wikipedia.org.  You can find the full article HERE.


What a story!  From tragedy to triumph!  I am teaching my daughter these old hymns and she loves them as much as I do.  What a wonderful blessing to share these with her.  Thank you, Dad and Mom, for making sure that we understood the value of these great hymns of the faith.  I cherish these songs today and will continue to do so.

Have you noticed that so many of those old hymns are songs we need no lyrics for?  We simply sing with abandon... with all our might and allow ourselves to be transported before the throne giving glory and honor to the King of Kings!  Isn't that what it's all about?

Psalm 59:17
"You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
   you, God, are my fortress,
   my God on whom I can rely."

He has already blessed us with everyone and everything we need.  Now, let's return those blessings to Him by living our lives to honor Him.

Enjoy this incredible video and story from Mr. Wintley Phipps.  Mom, this one is for you!  "It Is Well."

Blessed beyond measure,


::G::