IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL

SEEING THE SERMONS IN OUR SONGS
“IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL”
(PSALMS 15)

Intro:
Horatio G. Spafford had a good life. He was a successful attorney in Chicago, husband and father of a beautiful family, and devoted follower of God. In fact, he was a close personal friend of Doctor D.L. Moody, the notable theologian.
IN November of 1873, Dr. Moody departed for an evangelistic campaign which he would be conducting in Great Britain. Mr. Spafford decided that he would surprise his family by taking them on the campaign. However, at the last moment, unexpected work delayed Spafford’s departure. He didn’t want to disappoint his family, so he sent his wife, along with their four daughters, ahead and he planned to join them soon. SO, Mrs. Spafford and the children boarded the S.S. Ville Du Harve, and set sail for England.
At some point during the journey, tragedy struck. The Ville Du Harve collided with an English sailing vessel, and amazingly, it sank in 12 minutes. Among the 226 who perished, there were four girls named Tanetta, Maggie, Annie, and Bessie Spafford. That’s right; all four of the Spafford daughters were lost in that horrible accident. Miraculously, Mrs. Spafford survived, and was taken the rest of the way to England to await her husband.
As Mr. Spafford stood hour after hour on the ship which carried him to rejoin his grief stricken wife in Cardiff Wales, he had all the time in the world to contemplate all that had happened. The story holds that when the ship reached the approximant spot where the Ville Du Harve had met its doom, that Mr. Spafford found the strength, courage, and faith to write the following words. “When sorrows like sea billows roll, it is well with my soul.”
During my time here on earth, I have known some amazing people who showed phenomenal courage in the face of great trial. During those times, despite what they were going through, they were still able to say, “It is well with my soul.” I think of my grandmother who has buried her husband and two of her children. I think of Jimmy and Judy Hodge, who watched one son be killed at the age of 10, and then again bore witness as another son suffered for 20 years with Lupus, before finally losing his life in 2006. I think of our own Larry and Jean Lloyd, who despite suffering the tragic death of their wonderful Christian son Ray; they continue to work for the Lord in his kingdom.
In each of these cases, these amazing brethren are saying the same thing. They are crying out, “IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!” They don’t say it because they love the situation into which they have come, but in spite of the situation into which they have come.
This morning, I want us to examine how this is possible. Allow me to begin by giving you the short answer. It is possible, because their house is in order. If you will, turn to Psalms 15. There we find a Psalm which purports to have been written by David. In verse 1, David asks an important question. “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” I am going to submit to you this morning, that if we can answer David’s question here in Psalm 15: 1, then we will also answer the question: “How can I say that all is well with my soul?” Join me, and let’s discover the steps which we will need to take if we are to make that wonderful claim.

I. WE MUST BE PLEASEING IN GOD’S SIGHT

In Psalm 15:2, David begins to answer the question which he had posed in verse 1. “He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” The key to this verse is to be found in the final 7 words. David states that the one who wants to abide in God’s tabernacle, and dwell within his holy hill, that individual will, “speak the truth in his heart.” What does this mean?
In order to understand, there are two passages which we must come to terms with first. In Psalms 119: 11, David declares: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee.” Then, in Proverbs 7: 2-3, we read: “Keep my commandments, and live: and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the table of thine heart.”
In these three passages, Psa 15: 2, 119: 11, Pro 7: 2-3: there is a common theme. The common theme is that the faithful child of God will not be one who simply reads the word, or speaks the word, or even just listens to the word of the Lord. According to these passages, that child of God who wants to be able to say, “It is well with my soul”, will be one who has the truth that is the word of the Lord, stored in his or her heart. After all, are we not told in John 17: 17 that the word of the Lord is the truth? “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
According to all which we know of God, all which he has revealed to us, he is pleased when his children obey his word, and do his will.
Once we grasp this concept, we are then able to carry out the rest of Psalm 15: 2. IF we are to be pleasing in the sight of God that we might say, “It is well with my soul”, then we must observe and obey the other two thirds of the verse. “He shall walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness.”
First, we find David engaging in a bit of imagery. Think about the way in which we as people attempt to hide our wrongs. Many of man’s greatest sins are committed behind closed doors. We don’t want anyone to know what we have done, so we slink through the shadows. The one who is committing sin crawls through life on their belly, hoping that they will go unnoticed.
However, David states here that they who wish to abide in the tabernacle of the Lord, or dwell within his holy hill, will be those who walk upright. In other words, they will have nothing to hide.
Didn’t Jesus speak to this same idea in John 8: 12? There we read:”Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
As Jesus himself has just told us, that one who is pleasing in the sight of God, and therefore able to say, “It is well with my soul”, is that one who doesn’t need to hide in the darkness, but relishes the light of God in which they walk!
However, David also says that this same individual will, “work righteousness.” What does it mean, “Work righteousness?” Well, we begin with the obvious, and state that it is an action. Regardless of what language you are speaking, be it Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, or English: the meaning behind the word “WORK” remains the same. The dictionary defines work as: “The transference of energy when a force produces movement.”
IF we accept this definition, then we must also accept the fact that work requires effort to produce movement. Therefore, David, in his attempt to answer this question, is telling us that there is some action that we must undertake in regards to righteousness. From the context, it would seem as though God expects to be able to see our attempt to portray his righteousness in the world. Notice, I said that it is “HIS” righteousness which we portray, and not our own. You and I know that according to Romans 3: 10, that there are none who are righteous. However, for the one who has obeyed the Gospel of Christ and is now living it out in their lives, the righteousness of God should be seen in their actions. That is what the Psalmist is encouraging us to do. We work righteousness by allowing others to see God living in us!
If we are to sing, “It is well with my soul”, then we must be found pleasing in the sight of God.

II. WE MUST BE A CHRISTIAN TO OUR NEIGHBORS

If you haven’t noticed, the list of things which David says that we must do is very extensive. It includes: “Back biteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up reproach with his neighbor. IN whose eyes a vile person is contempt, but he honoreth him that fear the Lord, he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh a reward against the innocent.”
There you have it. A list of the things which you must do for and to those around you. If you mess up, forget, stumble, or fail in any way, you are to be excommunicated, hung out to dry, and flogged at high noon in the town square. Obviously this is not true. However, there will be someone who says, “Well, I cannot do all those things perfectly, so I will just give up on that whole abiding in the tabernacle thing.”
Let me ask you, how many times in scripture can you think of occasions when men of renowned failed to accomplish these things perfectly?
Consider the church at Corinth. Paul had to write to them on multiple occasions. One of the reasons for his concern and rebuke was their fighting among themselves. TO say that they backbit, or had reproach for one another might be understating the case. (1Cor 1: 10)
What about Jacob. Yes, Jacob the son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, future patriarch of Israel. Even that great man stumbled and fell. David says that we are not to do evil to our neighbor. Well, what about your own brother? You can’t get more neighborly than flesh and blood. Yet familial ties weren’t enough to inspire Jacob not to take that which was rightfully his brother’s. (Gen 27: 1-45)
Also, consider the church at Pergamos, to whom the Lord spoke in Revelation 2: 12-15. There we see a group of God’s children being reprimanded because they are allowing vile people teaching false doctrine to dwell among them.
Now, there are some who will hear this, and conclude that they have no chance. They will say, “Well, if those folks couldn’t get it right, then I have no hope.” Brethren, that’s just not true. You see, these people did something that few of us do. They did the same thing which David did time and time again in his own life. They kept going forward.
3: 14. There Paul writes: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Did you catch it? The key word is, “PRESS.” Literally, this word means to push through, or onward to reach a goal. In other words, you are going to push through those moments when you fall. I want to encourage you to take the advice of the Savior, which he offers in Luke 13: 24. “Strive to enter in at the straight gate: for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Brother’s and sisters, press onward, strive toward that wonderful reward which has been offered to us. Remember, being a Christian isn’t about being perfect; it is about striving for perfection. When you strive, when you press onward, you can truly say: “It is well with my soul!”

III. WE MUST BE UNMOVEABLE

It amazes me how we as people so easily forget that God doesn’t move. In Malachi 3: 6-7, God reveals to us that one who is ever shifting. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, wherein shall we return?”
Who is it that moves? Folks, it’s you and I. We are the one who turn away. How do we do it? By ignoring, disobeying, by flat out refusing to follow the ordinances of the Lord. When we do this, we will move away.
Now, I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “Why would not obeying God’s word lead me away?” Let me answer your question with a scripture. Matthew 6: 24 informs us: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Church, we cannot have it both ways. If we choose to follow man, then we will be moved away from the rock which is our God. If we choose to follow God, then we remain in his saving light.
Have you ever considered the fact that God is much like a set of car keys? You are the one who laid them down. They didn’t choose to be left in your pocket, or car, or under the couch. No, you are the one who left them there. However, what is amazing is that when you decide to go looking or them, they will be right where you left them. They will not have changed. When you go to use them to start your car, they will start the car just as they have always done.
You see, it wasn’t the keys that moved. It was you who left them behind. In the same way it isn’t God who moves away from you. He remains the same today as he was 1,000 years ago. He will be the same tomorrow as he will be 1,000,000 years from now. If we want to “abide in his tabernacle, and dwell in his holy hill”, then we must remain at his side evermore!
Today, I pray that you can confidently sing, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.” If you cannot, then why? What is it that is holding you back? Is that you are not pleasing in the sight of God? Is it that those around you don’t see the proper Christian lifestyle when they look at you? Is it that you have moved so far away from God that you no longer know which way is up? If any of these categorize you, then it’s not too late to make a change. If we can assist you, then please let us know what we can do.