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God says I will hold you in my everlasting arms. Every other set of arms will fail you, but I will never fail you. Timothy Keller, this is the Bright Forever, where each week we rediscover the power and richness found in some of the greatest hymns of the faith. My name is Andy Peavyhouse and I am your host on this incredible adventure through hymnody. Welcome back, everybody. It is great to be back with you again this week. In last week's episode we lifted our voices in triumph with all hail, the power of Jesus' name, a hymn of majesty kingship and the global call to worship of our risen Savior. That was a song of coronation, crowning him Lord of all.

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This week we're leaning into, if you will, one of those hymns that doesn't make a scene. It just shows up, steady and sure, when your strength doesn't. It's not a hymn that carries you, it's one that points you back to the arms that do Not just figuratively but spiritually, that do Not just figuratively but spiritually, emotionally and biblically. We're exploring the treasured gospel hymn Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. We shift from the throne room to the wilderness, from the grandeur of God's reign to the gentle reminder of his nearness. Leaning on the everlasting arms is a hymn, not of exaltation but of sustaining grace. It's not about standing in awe. It's about being carried when we're weak. Together, these two hymns All Hail the Power of Jesus Name and Leaning on the Everlasting Arms remind us that the king who wears the crown is also the shepherd who carries his sheep. Before we dive into the history and theology of Le on the everlasting arms, it's worth noting just how far this hymn has traveled.

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While born from scripture and sorrow, this gospel song has made its way into corners of the world far beyond the church pew. It has been performed and recorded by a wide variety of artists over the decades, including Roy Clark, mahalia Jackson, george Jones, iris DeMint, twyla Parris, selah I mean on and on and on. Even alternative acts like Me Without you incorporated lyrics from the second and third verses into their song Watermelon Ascot. Alan Jackson included it in his 2006 Precious Memories live gospel album. Brian Fallon recorded it for his 2021 Night Divine project. The Carter family performed it during their radio broadcasts out of Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s. More recently, chanel Beads released a haunting video of their version on YouTube in late 2024.

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And it doesn't end there. In film and television, this hymn has shown up time and time again, used to underscore, both in reverence and sometimes in irony. You'll hear it in classics like the Human Comedy from 1943 and the Night of the Hunter in 1955. And in modern works like True Grit from 2010, where it forms a major part of the film's score. It's appeared in First Reformed 2017, her Story in 2024, and series like Dollhouse and Justified and Law Order, special Victims Unit, the Simpsons and even House of Cards. It's also been used in commercials, most notably a controversial 2014 Guinness Beer ad commercial called Empty Chair and in a Sandsbury Christmas commercial commemorating the 1914 World War I Christmas Truce.

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Now, let's be clear this isn't an endorsement of any of those artists, films or shows, but what it does show is that leaning on the everlasting arms has resonated deeply even in secular contexts. I mentioned reverence and irony earlier. Some of these films and programs use the hymn in ways that aren't meant to honor its words, and yet, even then, they give rise to something distinctly important space for conversation. Something distinctly important space for conversation when a hymn like this surfaces, whether in sincerity or contrast, it invites reflection on God's nearness, even if that wasn't the writer or producer's intent, and this hymn has a message and a spiritual gravity that continues to pull people in, whether they realize it or not, and that's what keeps this hymn alive, not just as a cultural artifact, but as a testimony to the everlasting arms that still hold us. So with that, make sure you click subscribe and follow us at the Bright Forever so you never miss an episode as we explore incredible hymns like this one leaning on the everlasting arms. Let's begin.

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Anthony J Showalter was one of the most influential figures in 19th century American sacred music, especially in the South. Born in 1858 in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and raised in the Church of the Brethren, showalter grew up in a musical family and began teaching at singing schools with his father by age 14. He later studied at some of the most prestigious music training schools in the US and Europe and by his 20s he had launched his own publishing company in Dalton, georgia. Over his career he composed more than 1,000 gospel songs and edited more than 100 tune books and song collections.

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In the late 1880s, while conducting a singing school in Hartsell, alabama, showalter received two heartbreaking letters, both from former students, each informing him that their wives had recently passed away. In responding to their grief, showalter turned to scripture, writing back with the words of Deuteronomy 33.27,. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. This verse stirred something deeper in him. He began to compose a melody and wrote the now familiar refrain leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. But while he had the musical foundation and the chorus, showalter recognized he needed help giving lyrical voice to the everyday experience of leaning on God's promises. So he reached out to someone he trusted Elisha A Hoffman.

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Hoffman, born in 1839 in Pennsylvania, was a pastor, composer and fellow lover of gospel songs. He'd served as a Union soldier during the Civil War, attended seminary and pastored in towns across Ohio, michigan and Illinois. He worked with publishing arms of the Evangelical Association and he was known for crafting gospel lyrics that were both theologically rich and pastorally tender. You've likely heard many of them. Are you washed in the blood? I must tell Jesus and glory to his name, just to name a few. Knowing Hoffman had this gift for pairing theology with heart, showalter sent Hoffman both the refrain and the tune, inviting him to write verses that would flesh out the spiritual message. Hoffman responded with three stanzas, each reflecting a different aspect of what it means to rest in the arms of God.

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Joy in fellowship, peace in pilgrimage and freedom from fear. The Completed Hymn was first published in 1887 in the Glad Evangel for Revival Camp and Evangelistic Meetings, a songbook edited by Showalter, lm Evelsizer and SJ Perry. The tune was given the name Showalter, but the soul of the hymn belonged equally to both men. What began as a letter of sympathy became a hymn of enduring comfort, one that has gripped grieving hearts, lifted weary souls and pointed generations back to the arms that never let go. It was more than a collaboration. It was a hymn forged in sorrow and sung in hope. 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.

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The hymn begins not with sorrow but with joy. It describes the experience of leaning on God as one of deep, abiding fellowship. In a world of fractured relationships and fragile comforts, this is an anchor. Fragile comforts. This is an anchor the peace that comes from being held by God himself. 1 John 1, verse 3,. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, jesus Christ. This verse opens with astonishment. What a fellowship.

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The word fellowship in the New Testament, koinonia, doesn't just mean friendliness or hey, let's just hang out. It implies sharing in something deeply personal. It's about living life together, both as the church, but also in relationship with God himself. Living in fellowship with God is a 24-7 reality, not just a transactional relationship when we need something. First, john tells us that our fellowship is with God himself through Jesus Christ.

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If this fellowship were something we just kind of tapped into when we needed it or when we were in trials or in pain or suffering, I'm not sure we would be thinking this fellowship brings joy divine. It's more like it's just there when things are bad. So when this hymn speaks of joy divine, that what a fellowship, what a joy divine. It's not sappy, it's not oh shucks, god loves me. No, it's rooted in true union with God, a life lived for him every day. And this fellowship isn't earned. It's received through the grace won by Christ on the cross. This fellowship is not casual. It's communion with the triune God. It's the relational foundation of joy. It's where joy comes from. This relationship, this fellowship, is where joy comes from.

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In John, chapter 15, jesus actually tells us I am the vine, you are the branches. And he says what Abide in me and I in you. And then go down to verse 11 and he says and then go down to verse 11 and he says these things, I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. Here, Jesus. Again he's telling us where does this fellowship come from? Abiding in him, it's a 24-7 reality.

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If we find our rest in Christ, we're not striving to be what the world needs us to be. We're not trying to get the world's stuff. We simply rest in what Jesus has done for us. Leaning on God means abiding in him, and when we do it, it leads to a joy that this world cannot offer. But not only is there joy, there's also peace. What a blessedness, what a peace is mine.

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Romans 5.1,. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The blessedness and peace of this verse is demonstrated by our deep assurance of being made right with God. We are safe in his presence. The line what a peace is mine flows directly from this gospel reality. Flows directly from this gospel reality. Because Christ bore our sin. We're no longer at war with God. We are reconciled.

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The peace we have isn't circumstantial, it's not based on our circumstances. Our peace is not based on how good things are. It's positional. Look deeper at Romans 5, beginning in verse 9. It says Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Peace is not based on our circumstance. It's based on our position. We are no longer enemies. We're now adopted. We are his sons and daughters. Peace comes from the fact that we are God's children and he is a good father. Children and he is a good father. That's the peace that lets us lean without fear. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh how bright the path grows from day to day. Leaning on the everlasting arms, this verse walks with us. The Christian life isn't static, it's a pilgrimage.

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Hebrews 11 is the hall of faith, and it talks about all these people who had faith. And it gets to verse 13 and it says these all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return, but as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, god is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. This verse names something every Christian eventually realizes we are pilgrims, we are travelers, not tourists, on our way to a better country, a heavenly one. The hymn calls the way sweet, not because it's easy, but because of who walks with us.

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Hebrews 11 shows us that even the saints of old walked by faith, often without seeing the fulfillment of God's promises, but always, always trusting the one who made them. To lean on God in this pilgrim way is to admit our need and trust his provision, one step at a time. We are sojourners walking in faith toward a heavenly home. This verse always reminds me of John Bunyan's the Pilgrim's Progress, probably just because of the word pilgrim. But it reminds me of the Pilgrim's Progress where the main character, christian, walks the narrow road to the celestial city. All along the way he encounters trials and temptations and valleys and enemies, but he also experiences hope, companionship and God's helping hand. This second verse could have come right out of Christian's lips as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death or as he climbed the hill difficulty.

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What made his journey bearable and what makes ours so sweet to walk is not the ease of the path, but the strength of the one who walks the path with us, who walks the path with us. And then it says oh, how bright the path grows from day to day. The brightness of the path, again, it's not circumstantial, it's relational. The more we walk with Christ, the more his presence lights the way. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119, 105.

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Leaning on God makes the path brighter not necessarily easier, but clearer with each faithful step. And what we begin to see as we lean on God's everlasting arms is that every trial or hardship or danger faced on this path becomes another testimony to God's faithfulness, his unchanging, unshakable and utterly faithful arms. To lean on God is to trust him with your direction, day by day. So 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. This final verse turns from celebration to declaration. There's no need to dread or fear when you are held by omnipotent arms. It's a confirmation of Psalm 23. In verse 4, where it says even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. This verse shouts a defiant kind of peace, not denial of hardship, but the bold, confident assurance that we don't face the valley alone. We don't face the valley alone. The hymn asks what have I to dread? Not because life is safe, but because God is near.

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I love the quote from CS Lewis in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where Mr Beaver is talking to Susan about Aslan, and it's a beautifully allegorical picture of Jesus. He says Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion. Oh, said Susan, I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion Safe, said Mr Beaver. Who said anything about safe? Course he's not safe, but he's good, he's the king. I tell you, I love that line. Course he isn't safe, but he's good, he's the king. I tell you, no, the Christian life is not safe. Following Jesus is not safe. If you want safe, if you want easy, there's a wide, wide road that leads to destruction, road that leads to destruction. Jesus is not safe, but he is good, he is king, I tell you.

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And this hymn doesn't promise the absence of shadow, it promises the presence of the good shepherd. This kind of fearlessness only makes sense when we are leaning fully on the God who walks with us. The absence of dread or fear is not due to, again, circumstances, it's not circumstantial, it's about God's presence, it's about his nearness. Philippians 4, 6 and 7 says do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds. In Christ Jesus, this blessed peace is not something we manufacture. It's a gift, a guarding peace. The Greek word for guard is a military term implying a garrison stationed around your heart. That's what leaning produces Not just peace with God, like Romans 5.1, but the peace of God surrounding us when our circumstances don't make sense.

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And Romans 8 reminds us that if God is for us, who can be against us? And then it goes on to say who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or danger or sword, as it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all things we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The blessed peace because of the nearness of God is not just wishful thinking for the believer, it's our ever-present reality.

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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, leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms, arms, oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day. Leaning on the everlasting arm, leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning On the everlasting arms, we'll be right back. I have blessed peace with my Lord, so near, leaning on the everlasting Lord, leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all the laws. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure From all the laws, safe and secure from all alarms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. That was Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, performed by Nathan Drake of Reawaken Hymns. It is found on the album Hymns of the Father from Reawaken's the Trinity Project Hymns of the Father, hymns of the Son and Hymns of the Spirit. Lyric videos, chord charts and sheet music are available through the links in the show notes, and I want to just say thank you once again to Reawaken Hymns and to Nathan Drake himself for allowing us to use your recordings on our podcast. We so greatly appreciate it. I want to take a minute and just say one thing really quickly.

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Anthony Showalter's influence on American sacred music is hard to overstate. He wasn't just a composer. He was a teacher, a publisher, a theorist, a leader. By 1909, his companies had reportedly sold over 2 million hymnals and by 1930, 5.5 million. He established musical institutes, trained thousands in singing schools and published over a thousand compositions. In the year 2000, over 75 years after his death, showalter was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame A fitting recognition for a man whose music helped millions sing their way through sorrow and joy alike. But I want to share this real quick Showalter wasn't a perfect man. In 1908, after decades of marriage and ministry, he divorced his wife and mother of their seven children, caroline, and moved to Chattanooga marrying a second time within the year. The decision caused a rift between him and his longtime church in Dalton, georgia, where he had served faithfully. He resigned from his elder role in 1912.

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I bring this up because I've been reading so many articles about Michael Tate, who I remember him from when he was in the band DC Talk. He has been for a really long time the lead singer of the Newsboys and he's fallen from grace and there's been a lot of stories out there. And he's fallen from grace and there's been a lot of stories out there and I think we are tempted sometimes to put our singers and our music writers and our songwriters and our hymn writers and people that write our music for church on some pedestal of their beyond sin, and when they do fall, we take their music and throw it out and say we're not going to sing any more of this anymore. He's a horrible human being and I tell you this story about the writer of this hymn not to be like, oh, look at how horrible he is. I want it to be a reminder that even our hymn writers walk with a limp. One of the meanest, jerkiest people in the entire world was Martin Luther and he wrote some amazing hymns like A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

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Our hymn writers walk with a limp. I walk with a limp, walk with a limp. I walk with a limp. I mean, I'm not perfect, I'm going to fall, I'm going to fail at times. That's why I have the grace of God. I have not just grace for what I have done, not just grace to live each day, but grace for the future as well. And God has forgiven me, but grace for the future as well. And God has forgiven me. And I repent and I change and I move on. And I don't know all of the stories behind every single musician, christian musician, that has fallen. But I will say this it doesn't just mean that their songs mean nothing at that point. It doesn't just mean that their songs mean nothing at that point, because here's the thing God, in his grace, chooses to work through flawed people, time after time after time, to declare his unchanging truth. The arms that I lean on are not Anthony Showalkers, they're not Michael Tate's. They are the everlasting arms of God, and that's what this song reminds us of over and over. That we are leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

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As we close out this episode, I want to leave you with this. When Hoffman and Showalter responded to grief with scripture and song, they weren't writing simple emotion. They were writing truth and endurance. This hymn has strengthened soldiers, widows, wanderers and worshipers for over a century, and the strength found in its simple yet powerful words still speak. Whatever you're facing today, lean in. Lean in to the arms that never weaken. Lean in to the promises that never fade. Lean in to the fellowship that never lets go. Thank you for joining me on the Bright Forever Podcast. If this episode brought you comfort or stirred your soul, share it with somebody. Share it with someone who needs to know that they're not walking alone, and keep singing the songs of the saints, because they echo into eternity.

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You can follow us here at the Bright Forever either through Apple, spotify, goodpods and many other podcast platforms, or you can take our RSS feed and plug it into wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to dig deeper into the hymns that we've done before, please take a minute and visit our website at thebrightforevercom, and we always want to hear from you. You can email us at podcast at the bright forevercom. You can also click the contact us tab at the top of our website and send us a message through our contact form. You can click the radio microphone in the bottom right corner and record a message up to two minutes and let us know what you think. And now you can even text us. In the description and notes of every episode there's a link at the beginning that says send us a text. You can text us through there on your mobile device and it comes directly through to us on our website.

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And, last but not least, you can always show us what you think by leaving a review on our website, apple podcast or Spotify. You can also do it through, I think, pod chaser. You can leave comments on good pods and many other platforms. You can even leave comments through Facebook on our website at the end of every episode. So if you want to leave us comments that way, you can do that, or you can give us all of the five star ratings that you could possibly think to give us on all of those other platforms. We would love to have them. If you have one star reviews, I don't mind. If you keep those to yourself, it's okay.

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Thank you again for listening. Thank you for supporting us every single week, the fact that you listen. It's amazing to me. Sometimes I sit here and I do these and I feel like why would anybody want to hear what I have to say? But to see that people are responding and that people are sending in emails and they're saying, hey, I loved hearing this. It's reminding me of hymns of the past, it's reminding me of my childhood, it reminds me of my father or my mother or my grandmother, and it's just bringing back nostalgia and at the same time, it's teaching and growing me spiritually. And so hearing those things just man, to hear that God is moving in what we do is absolutely amazing. So thank you again for that. I'm really looking forward to next season. We already have a Christmas special planned called Come and Worship. You're going to hear a whole lot more about that in the next few months, but it's going to be really awesome and I'm really excited about it and I'm excited for what we're planning With that.

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Let me close us out in prayer. Father, we thank you for who you are, your love for us and for your everlasting arms that hold us and draw us near. That does not let us go, that does not let us go, and that we can trust, that we really can, in somewhat amazement and astonishment, say what a fellowship, what a joy divine to know that you are near, that you are holding us close. God, we thank you that we are loved so greatly that you would send your son, jesus, to live the life that we couldn't live, to die the death that we deserve and to be raised three days later, conquering death, conquering sin, conquering the grave itself, so that we can have life, and life abundant and full. Thank you, it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. God bless you all. Have a great week and I'll see you back here next week. We're out.