This hymn was inspired by Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (KJV). As the hymn is sung, contemplate what it means to find refuge in our heavenly Father's arms in times of fear and trial, and to allow His joy and peace to replace our loneliness and anxiety.
Text:
Anthony J. Showalter received letters from two friends who had lost their wives about the same time. He wrote back to express his sympathy, and included a verse of Scripture: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27 KJV). As he thought about that text, he wrote the music and refrain to this hymn. He asked Elisha Hoffman to write the stanzas. The hymn was first published in 1887 in The Glad Evangel for Revival, Camp, and Evangelistic Meetings, for which Showalter was an editor.
The text has three stanzas and a refrain. The theme of the text is the peace that comes from knowing that God will protect us, and how that knowledge removes our fears.
Tune:
The only tune to which this hymn is sung is SHOWALTER, written by the author, Anthony J. Showalter, when he wrote the text of the refrain. Sing in harmony, at least on the refrain, where the tenor and bass parts repeat “Leaning on Jesus” during the long notes of the women's voices.
When/Why/How:
This hymn is suitable for any time of year as a hymn of assurance. It can be sung in a variety of moods. The choral gospel medley “Back to the Church in the Wildwood,” which includes SHOWALTER, is written for a quick, upbeat tempo. A slower, peaceful mood also works well, as in this choral setting of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” The melody is simple enough to permit expressive variation, such as in “Everlasting Arms.”
Tiffany Shomsky,
Hymnary.org
Elisha Hoffman (1839-1929) after graduating from Union Seminary in Pennsylvania was ordained in 1868. As a minister he was appointed to the circuit in Napoleon, Ohio in 1872. He worked with the Evangelical Association's publishing arm in Cleveland for eleven years. He served in many chapels and churches in Cleveland and in Grafton in the 1880s, among them Bethel Home for Sailors and Seamen, Chestnut Ridge Union Chapel, Grace Congregational Church and Rockport Congregational Church. In his lifetime he wrote more than 2,000 gospel songs including"Leaning on the everlasting arms" (1894). The fifty song books he edited include Pentecostal Hymns No. 1 and The Evergreen, 1873.
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