This husband and wife had recently been remodeling their kitchen and one day the wife came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking frantically with what looked like a wire running from his waist to the electric coffeepot he had in his hand. Her adrenaline kicked in at the thought of her husband being electrocuted, so she grabbed a nearby 2×4 and whacked him hard, intending to jolt him away from the deadly current. She managed to knock him clear across the room, breaking his arm in two places. She later she found out that, up until that moment, he had been happily listening to his iPod. What looked like electrocution were actually his best dance moves.

Music has a way making you move, doesn’t it? Even worship music. Maybe you like to tap your foot or raise your hand while you’re singing in church. David danced before the Lord in his underwear. Whatever you do at least you can be grateful that you’ve never been whacked with a 2×4 while dancing in your kitchen!

The Bible urges us to “be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:18-19 NLT). The psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that we sing, help us to open our hearts and allow God’s Spirit to flow in and through us. They add life and color to our worship. And they help shape our understanding of who God is and how we can relate to him. That’s why I’ve set aside several weeks to explore some the sturdy old hymns that have been sung in every branch of Christianity for generations—hymns like Amazing Grace, and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and How Great Thou Art.

Today I’d like to continue this medley by exploring the message behind the melody of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. The idea for this song came from Anthony Showalter who was principle of the Southern Normal Musical Institute in Dalton, Georgia. Anthony always took special interest in his students and enjoyed keeping up with them after they had graduated and moved on. One day, in 1887, Anthony received two letters from former students. As he torn them open and began to read his heart sank. Each of these young men were heartbroken, having tragically lost their wives. Anthony went to the Bible in search of a verse that might offer the two of them some comfort. What he found was Deuteronomy 33:27, which says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you” (NLT). Anthony encouraged the two young men to lean on the everlasting arms. And as he pondered that verse, he quickly wrote a chorus and gave it to his friend E. A. Hoffman who wrote the verses. And this song has been a tremendous comfort to Christians ever since. Each verse underscores a different byproduct of leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus.

 

• CLOSENESS

 

The first verse focuses on the closeness that we can experience with God when we lean on his everlasting arms. Elisha Hoffman wrote: “What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms!”

There is something about being able to lean on someone during difficult times that creates a bond, a connection and closeness with that person. Couples who are able to lean on each other and support one another during difficulties come through it with an even stronger relationship; but couples who fight and argue are often torn apart when trouble comes their way. And the same is true of our relationship with God.

God invites us to lean on him in troubled times: “Be humble under God’s powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes. Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:6-7 NCV). When we lean on God like this, we experience that fellowship that E.A. Hoffman writes about and a closeness with God that we all longer for. Charles Colson knew all about this.

In the early 1970s Charles Colson was a presidential aid to Richard Nixon, often referred to as Nixon’s hatchet man. He was also the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges. But during the trials and inquiries, Charles turned to Jesus, confessed his sins, and accepted Christ as his new Leader and Forgiver. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and served seven months in a Federal Prison Camp in Alabama. Those seven months changed his life. While he was in prison, Charles leaned on Jesus and developed a closeness and fellowship with God that remained with him forever. After serving his time, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, now the world’s largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Prison Fellowship has more than 50,000 volunteers working in hundreds of prisons in 88 countries around the world. A ministry that has blessed millions of people got started because Charles Colson decided to lean on Jesus in his time of trouble.

God wants us to experience that kind of intimacy with him. The Bible says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts” (James 4:8-9 ESV). You see, a big part of drawing near to God and experiencing intimacy with him is confessing and repenting of our faults and failures. We humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, lean on him and he will lift us up with his everlasting arms. That’s what the first verse of this hymn teaches us.

 

• CLARITY

 

The second verse is all about clarity. The second verse goes like this: “Oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way… oh how bright the path grows from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arms.” In this verse, E. A. Hoffman is comparing the Christian life to a journey, and he’s saying that as we lean on Jesus, the path we’re on becomes brighter and clearer.

We all travel different roads in life. We choose different paths on different occasions. All of us, at different times in our lives, come to a fork in the road. And all of a sudden we have a decision to make. I like what the infamous baseball Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra, once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” He was full of muddled messages like that.  If only it were that simple, right?

Some of us are quick and decisive decision makers, but most of us are more like Robert Frost who wrote the famous poem, The Road Not Taken. The opening stanza of that poem says: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth.”

Maybe you can identify with the traveler. Haven’t you stood a few forks yourself? Which job do I take? Should I speak now or forever hold my peace? Do I give in to temptation or stand my ground? Yes or no? Now or later? You’ll make millions of decisions in your lifetime. Dozens every day. Some major. Some minor. We might try to look down each path as far as we can see, but eventually we have to make a decision; and that decision, whether for good or bad, can make all the difference.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably made some bad decisions in life—taken the wrong road a time or two. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a guide? Someone to lead us down the right path? Good news! You do!

In Psalm 23, David paints this quiet and intimate picture of his relationship with God. He writes, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3 NIV).

When we have the kind of closeness and fellowship with God that David describes here, God will lead us. He takes us to green pastures, he guides us to calm waters. And, most importantly, he leads us in paths of righteousness. It might not be the most popular path or the easiest path, but it will be the right path. And he leads us down the right path through his word. The Bible says, “Your commandments give me understanding…Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:104-105 NLT). The more we get into God’s Word and the more God’s Word gets into us, the clearer and brighter our path becomes. It becomes easier to make good decisions when we’re leaning on Jesus. Christianity isn’t about perfection; it’s about direction. When you are leaning on Jesus, you can be content in the knowledge that you are on the right path—the road less traveled.

 

• CONFIDENCE

 

So the first verse of this hymn focuses on our closeness with God and the second on the clarity that comes with that closeness. Finally, the third verse underscores the confidence we can have when we’re leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus.

Elisha Hoffman writes: “What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms… safe and secure from all alarms.”

What’s your worst fear? Flying, heights, insects? Or maybe your fears are more refined. A fear of failure, public embarrassment, or unemployment? The fear that you’ll never find the right spouse or enjoy good health? The fear of being trapped, abandoned or forgotten?

I remember when our daughter, Sarai, was just two years old. We had come here to visit the Grove for the first time and we were staying at the Best Western (now the Grand Magnusson) and we took the kids swimming. It was Sarai’s first time in the water. She loved floating around on the little inner tube, until she suddenly fell off. I literally tossed my son into the shallow end and dove toward Sarai. She was only under water for few seconds, but it traumatized her. She wanted out and she wasn’t getting back in. We didn’t see another swimming pool in June of that year, several months later. I knew that Sarai wouldn’t be excited about it, but I wanted her to get back in the water. So I waded waist-high into the shallow end to show her it was safe, stretched out my arms toward her and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

Your Father does the same with you.

Fear can cause spiritual paralysis. It forces you to spend your life at the edge of the pool, never taking the plunge. But God reaches out his everlasting arms and says, “Do not be afraid.” He told the Israelites: “Do not be afraid or terrified… for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV).

He said to Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV). In fact, the Bible contains no less that 366 commands not to be afraid—that’s one for every day of the year including leap year. Jesus issued 125 commands in the New Testament and the one statement he made more than any other was this: “Don’t be afraid.”

It took some coaxing, but eventually Sarai took a leap faith, hopped into her father’s arms, and has been fearless ever since.

God wants the same for each of us. He wants us to take a leap of faith, to trust him completely, to have more faith than fear and leap into his outstretched arms and sing along with E. A. Hoffman and Anthony Showalter, “Leaning on Jesus, Leaning on Jesus, Safe and secure from all alarms.”

 

 

Conclusion:

 

There’s really no better place to be than in the arms of Jesus. Whether you need someone to lean on during trying times, or you need guidance and direction for your life, or you need someone to quiet your fears and give you strength, the truth of Deuteronomy 33:27 is the answer: “The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you” (NLT).

 

Invitation:

 

Maybe you’ve been thinking about giving your life to Jesus and drawing near to God, but you’re still standing on the edge of the pool, pondering. I want to urge you to take the plunge. Fall into your Father’s everlasting arms, draw close to him, and let him lead you through life. If you’re ready to make that decision, please let me know while we stand and sing.