My Ebenezer

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

That's the first verse of one of my favorite hymns. "Come Thou Fount" dates to 1758 and is an example of a truly great hymn that is brimming with truth about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But it's the second verse I'm thinking about this morning.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
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.

I'm thinking about it because I read 1 Samuel 7:12 this morning in my devotions: "Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."

Everytime I sing this favorite hymn, my thoughts are arrested by that phrase "here I raise my Ebenezer." What does that mean? But when we study the scripture we see the answer. Ebenezer means "stone of help." Samuel raised a monument and named it Ebenezer to remind the children of Israel that God had helped them and always would.

Do you need a reminder today of God's amazing grace, love, mercy and help in your life? Think back on all He's done. Raise your Ebenezer and remember how good our God is.