William Murphy’s ‘It Is Well’ performance will give you chills and leave you reflecting on God’s peace. William and his choir’s praise sounds wonderful, strong, and sweet. Watch the video to see and hear the beautiful act of worship.

Performing artist and pastor William Murphy and his singing group launch into nearly 10 minutes of music in their performance of ‘It Is Well.’ It’s the most lively and soul-filled cover of the song that you’re likely to ever hear, with long vibrato-filled notes and improvised add-ins. Partway through the performance, William combines preaching and singing as he dances across the stage and riles up the crowd. 

The hymn can often take a very somber tone when it's performed in the typical way, but William’s version fills it with excitement, peace, joy, and hope. His performance says, “It is well with my soul, and I’m excited about it because I have full trust in God that he is with me.” Some of the lyrics William makes lively are:

It is well with my soul!
It is well, it is well with my soul!
It is well with my soul!
It is well, it is well with my soul!

The hymn has an incredible background. Horatio Spafford wrote the song in 1873, after his four daughters drowned in a voyage to England. His wife sent him a message: “Saved alone. What shall I do?” He headed to England and wrote the hymn as he passed over the spot where the shipwreck occurred. He lost a fortune in the Great Chicago Fire just two years prior. Horatio had many tragedies and even lost his four-year-old son to scarlet fever a few years later, but his trust in God never wavered. Despite everything, he would say, “It is well with my soul.”

“These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16: 33