If you have been around the church for many years, you most likely have heard the song, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” In fact, some of you are singing it in your head right now
. There is a line that says, “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” What in the world does that mean?
In I Samuel 7 we read how when the Philistines were gathering to war against Israel, the Israelites asked Samuel to pray for them. Samuel prepared an offering to the Lord and prayed. God answered by confusing and routing the Philistines. Verse 12 (NASB) says, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.'”
Despite trials, difficulties, and hard times, we can see that God has been our Helper. Psalm 46:1 (NASB) says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 28:7 (NASB) says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.”
Jesus promised that when He ascended back to the Father, He would pour out the Holy Spirit upon the believers. In John 14:16 (NASB), Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” God has never left us to fend for ourselves. He has always provided help.
As the song says, we also can “raise our Ebenezer.” We see how the Lord has been with us. We have been blessed in many ways and we have also faced some hard times. Through them all God has proved Himself faithful.
This coming year will surely bring some great joys, but we realize there will be challenges as well. As long as we live on this earth, we will face battles, but we can be confident God is with us and will bring us through so at the end of this year, we can once again say, “Thus far, the Lord has helped us.”
