Leaning on the Everlasting Arms Elisha A. Hoffman and Anthony J. Showalter, 1887
3 verses and a refrain, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. 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.
Refrain Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Verse 2. 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.
Verse 3. 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.
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from Christ in Song (1908). They were published in 1887, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Anthony Showalter taught music in the South and wrote the refrain and the tune. Elisha Hoffman wrote the stanzas. Showalter's own account, printed in Margueritte Garrett's History and Message of Hymns in 1924, says the song began with a letter of comfort. Two of his former pupils in South Carolina had lost their wives on the same day. He quoted Deuteronomy 33:27 to them, and the thought came that people who lean on God's everlasting arms ought to have a song about it. He sent the refrain to Hoffman, and Hoffman supplied the verses. A family tradition in Catoosa County, Georgia, says Showalter finished the melody at the Isaac Magill home after a Sunday service. A church in Dalton, Georgia, says its organist was among the first to play the song. The Hymnology Archive presents these local accounts beside Showalter's own, and it does not settle between them. The song appeared in 1887 in two nearly identical books by Showalter, The Song Evangel and The Glad Evangel, and it was the first song in both. The tune is usually called SHOWALTER. Its range is only about a sixth, which makes it easy to learn. The three stanzas are usually printed unchanged. Hymnary.org lists Deuteronomy 33:27 as the Scripture behind the hymn.
Elisha A. Hoffman
1839-05-07 to 1929-11-25
Elisha Albright Hoffman was born at Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Union Seminary in 1860. He trained in the Evangelical Association and later served Presbyterian churches in Illinois and Michigan, including 13 years at First Presbyterian in Benton Harbor. He founded the first Bohemian mission in Cleveland in 1881. His father was also a pastor, and together they gave more than 60 years of ministry. He retired in 1922 and became honorary pastor of South Shore Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He wrote over two thousand hymns and gospel songs, among them I Must Tell Jesus and the stanzas of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. He died in Chicago at age 90.
Anthony J. Showalter
1858 to 1924
Anthony Johnson Showalter was born at Cherry Grove, Virginia, and was taught music by his father. He trained at the Ruebush-Kieffer School of Music in 1876 and led shape-note singing schools by age 14. He moved to Dalton, Georgia, in 1884 and formed the Showalter Music Company there in 1890. The firm printed hymnals, songbooks and periodicals. He edited The Music Teacher and Home Magazine for about 20 years and ran normal music schools in a dozen or more states. He served as choir leader and elder at First Presbyterian Church in Dalton. He wrote the tune and refrain of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and died at Chattanooga in 1924.
- Hymnology Archive, Leaning on the everlasting arms , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1991 No. 333 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive, Elisha Hoffman , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
The Bible passages behind the words, with the verse of the hymn that draws on each.
- Deuteronomy 33:27 In verse 27 of the hymn
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms videos
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Leaning On The Everlasting Arms • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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"Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" arr. Eric Nelson First-Plymouth Church Lincoln Nebraska (FirstPVideos), Choir
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Leaning on the Everlasting Arms - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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Leaning On the Everlasting Arms - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - Norton Hall Band Southern Seminary, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Print and project
For Sunday
- Slides for Leaning on the Everlasting Arms All 3 verses and the refrain. Full screen, or a PowerPoint file that ProPresenter and Keynote open.
- Add it to a bulletin Opens the bulletin maker with Leaning on the Everlasting Arms in the order of service.
- Add it to a funeral program Opens the funeral program maker with this hymn in the order of service.
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in A♭.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Leaning on the Everlasting Arms?
Elisha Hoffman wrote the stanzas, and Anthony Showalter wrote the refrain and the tune. It was published in 1887.
What Bible verse is Leaning on the Everlasting Arms based on?
Deuteronomy 33:27. Showalter quoted it in a letter of comfort, and the thought of a song followed.
What is the story behind Leaning on the Everlasting Arms?
Showalter wrote to two former pupils whose wives had died on the same day, and the refrain came to him in that letter. He sent it to Hoffman, who wrote the verses.
Is Leaning on the Everlasting Arms in the public domain?
The words and the tune are public domain in the United States. Both were first published in 1887.
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