At 20, his fiancée left him because he was going blind. At 40, alone on his sister’s wedding night, George Matheson wrote “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” in just five minutes.
Category: Stories We Sing
When Pain Writes Poetry: The Lives Behind Our Most Beloved Hymns.
Behind every great hymn is a human story—often one marked by profound suffering, devastating loss, or seemingly impossible circumstances. These weren’t people writing from ivory towers or comfortable studies. They were writing from shipwrecks and slave ships, from blindness and bereavement, from poverty and pain.
The Story of Peace: “It Is Well With My Soul”
“Horatio Spafford stood on a ship crossing the Atlantic, sailing over the spot where his four daughters had drowned. There, he wrote ‘It Is Well With My Soul.'”
A Story of Sight Beyond Blindness: Blessed Assurance
“Blinded at six weeks old, Fanny Crosby wrote 8,000 hymns and saw God’s glory more clearly than those with perfect sight. Her story redefines limitation.”
A Story of Redemption: “Amazing Grace”
“From slave trader to hymn writer: John Newton’s journey from darkness to grace produced the most beloved hymn in history. His story proves no one is beyond redemption.”
A Story of Faith & Grief: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
Joseph Scriven lost everything twice—his fiancées, his homeland, and even battled chronic depression—yet he gave the world one of its most beloved hymns, ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus.’ This is the story of faith, grief, and enduring friendship with God.”
Christmas, Advent
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The Sick Boy Who Changed How We Worship: Isaac Watts and “Joy to the World”
When Isaac Watts was seven years old, he complained to his father about how boring the church singing was. His father challenged him: “Then write something better, young man.” Isaac went home and wrote his first hymn. That moment started a revolution in Christian worship that would last over 300 years. The sick boy who should never have been important—too weak, too poor, too excluded from power—wrote over 750 hymns that changed how millions worship. Including one song we sing every Christmas (Joy to the World), though he never meant it to be a Christmas carol at all.
Stories We Sing
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The Reformer Who Sang in the Storm “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” The year was 1527, and the plague had come to Wittenberg. The university closed. The Elector ordered everyone to leave the city. But Martin Luther refused. “I am here by God’s call,” he said. “I don’t care if the devil is in…