It is well

My choir recently sang "It is Well With My Soul". Many of you know the story behind the hymn. Full details can be found here. The short version is that the man who wrote this hymn had many losses in his life. He wrote the hymn after all his children were lost at sea.

Here are the lyrics:

It Is Well With My Soul

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, 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.

The first instinct is to say how wonderful it is that he could feel this way after such horrible loss. I have been thinking about it and I wonder if it wasn't written as more as a prayer. I wonder if he desperately wanted to feel this way and so wrote this hymn, rather than achieving this peace and then writing about it.