God has given us a merciful gift in music authored in the midst of great tragedy. A song often has the power to express and comfort pain when words alone feel empty. Again and again, “It Is Well” has met and carried saints through the worst kinds of suffering, reminding us of the deep, abiding, sovereign Well at the bottom of our joy and life.

Recently, we recorded Jimmy Needham singing “It Is Well.” It’s a track from his latest album, The Hymn Sessions. At the three-minute mark of the video below, John Piper tells the moving story behind the hymn. Horatio Spafford lost his four daughters in a tragic accident at sea. And in those horrifying moments, God amazingly put these lyrics on his lips.