“Man of Sorrows” was the last hymn Ira Sankey ever heard Bliss sing. Bliss’s name is on the top left and right of this hymn. The words and the tune came from him. The focus, however, is entirely on Jesus.

A local ministry recently gifted me a book—Man of Sorrows, King of Glory: What the Humiliation and Exaltation of Jesus Mean for Us by Jonty Rhodes. Because I was unfamiliar with the book and its author, I initially read the table of contents and the acknowledgments. From the beginning, it was evident all the chapter headings came from the hymn “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” by Philip P. Bliss. That intrigued me.

Then the final paragraph of the acknowledgments astonished me. Rhodes writes,

One final note. The chapter headings come from Philip Bliss’s hymn popularly known as “Man of Sorrows.” Bliss spent his early years working as a music teacher but became an itinerant evangelist in his mid-thirties on the advice of D. L. Moody. He wrote “Man of Sorrows” in 1875, shortly after this career change. But Bliss would never see his fortieth birthday. On December 29, 1876, a trestle bridge collapsed as the train carrying him and his wife passed over it. Most of the carriages disappeared into the snow-covered Ashtabula River valley below. Bliss himself survived the fall but was last seen heading back into the wreckage to rescue his wife from the flames. Neither body was ever found. I know little else about him.

I’d never heard Bliss’s story before. Not only did I grow up singing his hymns, but this tragic accident took place about an hour away from where I live and pastor. Although the author knew little else about him, I wanted to know more.

Name on the Top Right

When you open a hymnbook, the name on the top left of a page typically indicates who wrote the words to the song. The name on the top right indicates who wrote the tune. Sometimes one person is responsible for both, but generally the song is the result of multiple artists.

As I read more about Bliss’s work, I learned he wrote the tune to one of the most beloved hymns of the English language—“It Is Well with My Soul.” Horatio Spafford wrote the words, so his name appears on the top left of the published hymn. And on several occasions, I’ve heard the song introduced in congregational worship by recounting Spafford’s story. First, the Great Chicago Fire. Shortly after, the tragic loss of his four daughters in a shipwreck. Then his journey across the same waters, which inspired him to pen the words “when sorrows like sea billows roll.” It’s a powerful story of resilient faith in a sovereign God.

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