The Hymn "When Peace like a River Attendeth my way" was written in tears of sorrowful loss of 4 daughters at sea by their father, Horatio Spafford. He was a wealthy lawyer in Chicago and a keen Christian who was a friend of evangelist DL Moody and other well-known Christians of the day. He had booked tickets to travel by ship for his family when the a business matter kept him on land while his family travelled on a fateful sea trip.
Later on another sea trip passing the spot where his daughters perished, he was so stricken with sorrow that he could not sleep. He prayed and the Lord gave him grace to pen the words of a poem which became "It is Well with my Soul", which Philip Bliss & Sankey set to music in 1876 to become the well-known hymn sung by many since then. We appreciate the hymn much better when we know the story behind it.
Andrew Loh
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