“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” is a gospel hymn written in 1887 through the collaboration of two men. The tune and the refrain came from A.J. Showalter, a singing-school teacher and music publisher; the verses were supplied, at his request, by the hymn writer Elisha A. Hoffman.
By the well-known account, Showalter was moved to write the song while answering letters of condolence to two former students, each of whom had lost his wife. The phrase from the Book of Deuteronomy — “underneath are the everlasting arms” — struck him as exactly the comfort a song should carry, and the finished hymn was published that same year.
With its warm, reassuring message and simple, easily sung melody, the hymn became a fixture of church and gospel singing and passed readily into bluegrass.
