Grief
Deuteronomy 33:26-27a
There is none like the God of Jerusalem, who rides upon the heavens to your help, majestic through the skies. This eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are his everlasting arms!
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms ELW 774
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, (Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus,)
safe and secure from all alarms;
leaning, leaning, (leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus,)
leaning on the everlasting arms.
2 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. Refrain
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. Refrain
Text: Elisha A. Hoffman, 1839-1929
In 1887, a music teacher named Andrew Showalter dismissed his class and returned to his home in Huntsville, Alabama. When he arrived, he found two letters from two former students, both of whom had lost their wives to tragic deaths on the same day. He sat down to write them each a letter of condolence and the Scripture that came to his mind was from Deuteronomy 33, about God’s everlasting arms. He advised them to place themselves in the protective care of the arms of that God would support them in their grief. Later that same day he wrote a third letter to a colleague who wrote hymns, Elisha Hoffman, asking her to perhaps use the same text and write a hymn for people who faced similar distress. This hymn was the result.
We all deal with loss; you might say dying is part of living. Sometimes we wonder where God is in the midst of our loss and grief. Even knowing his arms support us, we cannot deny the emotions of such moments. When a loved one dies, its right to mourn. But God is still in control, he has not abandoned us, and that truth keeps us going. 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.
Prayer: Loving God, we ask that your strong arms support us all the days of our lives. And when we come to the end of our days, may those same strong arms hold us to everlasting rest. Amen