Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

"Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"
Song
Language	English
Published	1887
Genre	Hymn
Songwriter(s)	Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha Hoffman
Composer(s)	Anthony J. Showalter

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms is a hymn published in 1887 with music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman.

Showalter said that he received letters from two of his former pupils saying that their wives had died. When writing letters of consolation, Showalter was inspired by the phrase in the Book of Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms".

Showalter wrote the lyrics to the refrain in Hartselle, Alabama and asked Hoffman to write the remaining lyrics.

There is an alternate version of the refrain, typically sung by basses:

It has been performed and recorded by such artists as Norbert Susemihl, Iris Dement, George Jones, Mahalia Jackson, Twila Paris and Selah.

Alan Jackson included it in his 2006 live gospel album Precious Memories.

The song has been used in several movies, including The Human Comedy (1943), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Phase IV (1974), Wild Bill (1995), Next of Kin (1989), True Grit (2010) (of which it forms about a quarter of the score) and First Reformed (2017). In television, it was used in the Dollhouse season one episode "True Believer". It was also used in the House of Cards episode "Chapter 42" (season 4, episode 3), and in the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Pattern Seventeen" (season 16, episode 9).

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Wikipedia