Hymn Highlight: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Reverend Elisha Albright Hoffman (1839-1929) wrote over 2,000 (!) hymns over the course of his long life. Hoffman was an American congregational pastor mostly known for “Down at the cross where my Savior died” and “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?” Perhaps most popularly, though, Hoffman penned “Leaning on the everlasting arms” in around 1894. The hymn has appeared in hundreds of hymnals in the last century and is still sung in many churches.
Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
This beautiful hymn pushes us to the Savior’s embrace. In Christ, we, as God’s spiritually adopted children, can lean upon God’s arms. He embraces us! The chorus, shown above, is a response to the covenant love of God experienced by all Christians. God has called us in his covenant love into his embrace. In that, we are safe and secure from all alarms. What does this mean? We will face trials and tribulations. We may even face persecution. These are causes for alarm. But in Christ, in the embrace of God, we are actually safe. We are kept secure and firm and embraced within the loving arms of God.
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
In the first verse, we’re brought into fellowship and joy. As Christians, we have a fellowship with God. The chasm between us and God has been erased because of the person and work of Jesus. We have sweet fellowship, and this is for our joy. Our fellowship with God brings divine joy. God-joy. Joy from God. Leaning on the everlasting arms brings us a joy that can only be provided by God himself. Having God as Father, as the one on whom’s arms we can lean is blessedness and peace. Being in the covenant family of God is being at peace with God. No longer are we apart from God. No longer are we under his wrath. Instead, we are in his embrace. We are leaning on him. We are in his peace and blessedness.
O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Following Christ in life is a journey, a pilgrimage. We are walking together to the celestial way—a truly sweet life. But we won’t make it by ourselves. We won’t even make it with merely each other. We need to lean on Christ to make it. We need divine help. Thankfully, we are in God’s family. And because of that, the path grows bright from day to day. The Holy Spirit illumines the truth of Scripture, making our paths straight. Not only does God bring us into his family, but he also keeps us in his family and on the path of discipleship.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Finally, we turn to our fears and dread: In Christ, we can have no fear, no dread. We are safe, completely safe, in his arms. Christ is the only way to experience true peace in the world. If we will draw near to God in Christ, he will draw near to us (James 4:8). In his drawing near, our fears vanish. The fear of man, the fear of persecution, of struggle or toil, goes away completely. We have a peace with God near.
This song is a sweet picture of the blessings found in salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. As a Christian, you can have true peace, true safety. Why? Because God holds you in his arms. May this be a sweet reminder the next time you sing this song: No matter what happens in life or in death, in Christ, you are completely secure.