Raising My Ebenezer

“Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means ‘the stone of help’), for he said, ‘Up to this point the LORD has helped us!’" (1 Samuel 7:12 NIV)

Technology has made private worship and study much easier. My favorite form of praising God is by singing along to lyric videos on YouTube . Although I like listening to old hymns, I rarely know the proper words to them. Recently,I was listening to the classic “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (written by Robert Robinson in 1758). When I came to the following verses, I was confused about the meaning:
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I've come
I remembered that the word Ebenezer had some sort of significance in the Old Testament, but I didn’t have a chance to look it up at that time. However, for the next two days, I kept feeling the nudge to understand these lyrics. I checked an online Bible concordance and found the scripture reference in 1 Samuel 7:12. The Israelites had just won a battle against the Philistines. Samuel set up a stone in the battlefield and named it Ebenezer (Hebrew for ‘stone of help’)  to commemorate God’s preservation of the Israelites.

Our own choices and actions may bring about some positive results or negative consequences, but the majority of all that we have and all that we have become is from God. Many of us imagine that this world turns by human skill, good luck, and hard work. Perhaps, like me, you need daily reminders that God sustains and preserves everything. Maybe we all need to raise our own Ebenezers--visual, tangible memorials that bring to mind the following truth:

WE HAVE COME THUS FAR BY GOD’S GRACE.