Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I've come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Do you recognize these lyrics? They come from the hymn, Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing, which praises God for tethering the hearts of His people to Him. This song reminds us that we are prone to wander, prone to leave God, and yet, by His great help, we will safely arrive at home. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing praises God’s faithfulness.
But there’s one word you may have sung over and over again without understanding its meaning. Could you pick it out in the lyrics above?
Ebenezer.
What does it mean to “raise my Ebenezer”? By exploring this unfamiliar word, we will behold God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel and to us today.
What is an Ebenezer?
We first find the word Ebenezer in 1 Samuel 4. Here, Israel battles the Philistines, who have the upper hand and begin to overcome the Israelites. When the battle breaks, God’s people see their need for help, so they summon the ark of the covenant to come into battle with them (Exodus 25:10–22). This ark represents God’s presence among the Israelites. The problem? The Israelites were attempting to use God’s presence to advance their own agenda—they were trying to manipulate God into helping them win a battle. Therefore, even with the ark in their midst, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines and the ark of God was captured.
God was harsh on the Philistines for stealing the ark, so much so that they returned the ark to Israel about seven months later. However, Scripture records that Israel did not immediately learn their lesson after their fall to the Philistines. The nation took another twenty years to repent to the Lord and long for His presence once again (1 Samuel 7:2). Yet, when Israel did, Samuel led them in a nation-wide repentance. Samuel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord graciously heard Samuel’s prayer (7:9). God forgave His people, and this time, when the Philistines attempted to take advantage of the Israelites gathering, God threw the enemies into confusion. Israel defeated the Philistines by the hand of their God.
In celebration, Samuel set up a stone as a monument to the Lord’s faithfulness. He called the stone “Ebenezer” and said, “The LORD has helped us to this point” (7:12). Therefore, Ebenezer means “the stone of help”.
We are not sure if the location of Ebenezer in 1 Samuel 4 is related to the monument Ebenezer in 1 Samuel 7; however, the contrast teaches us of the Lord’s character. Though Israel had failed their God and departed from His ways, God forgave them. God was faithful when Israel was faithless.
I don’t know about you, but this gives me great hope. I too am faithless at times. I fall prey to worry. I try to come up with solutions in my own strength. I get frustrated and raise my voice at my kids, or trade hugs for hurry. I fail to love them as their God loves them. But this narrative in 1 Samuel reminds me of God’s heart toward sinners—His gracious heart that moved Him to send His only Son to bear the burden of sin that I deserve.
God’s Faithfulness Proven In Jesus
Indeed, God’s faithfulness to us is proven in the person and work of Jesus—for my sins are washed clean by His innocent blood. I am made new; I have God’s Spirit within me—all because God did not give up on His people. But although I have been redeemed, I still struggle against my sin. Just like Israel, I attempt to fight our own battles. I may not worship idols as the Israelites did, but I do worship wealth and success and status. I too stray from God. And yet, the Lord is still faithful to those who come to Him with a humble and repentant heart.
Therefore, we do not have to be afraid to confess our sin before the Lord and others. We do not have to be afraid to come to the Lord in need. He is our helper. When we raise our Ebenezer, we are declaring God’s faithfulness over our circumstances and acknowledging our need for His presence.
Dependence upon the Lord is not a feeling that is reserved for the moment you give your life to Jesus, it’s an everyday cadence. The Lord is your help today, tomorrow, and forevermore. We raise our Ebenezer every morning, acknowledging that God has helped us up to this point and He will help us until the day He calls us home to glory. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, “I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). The Lord will not leave His people (Psalm 94:14). Even when we cannot see a way through or discern God’s good plan, we can raise our Ebenezer in faith—trusting that the same God who watched over the Israelites watches over us.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing ends with these lyrics:
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
We are prone to wander. Yet in the Lord’s faithfulness, He seals our hearts by the Holy Spirit, marking us as His own until Jesus returns. We too can pray “here’s my heart, oh take and seal it—seal it for thy courts above” in faith that God will bind us to Himself in His goodness.
If you are struggling to persevere through difficulty—if you question the Lord’s faithfulness—remind yourself of God’s faithfulness to forgive Israel though they did not deserve it—and His faithfulness to bring you out of the dark and into His Light through Jesus Christ.
For more on maintaining faith through difficult seasons, check out The Daily Grace Co’s study, Sacred Suffering, on the book of Job. This study will help you learn to praise God as the sovereign, faithful, and good Father, even in the most challenging of circumstances.
Sources:
Ewing,W. “Ebenezer,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988.
Oakes, Perry J. “Ebenezer,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
