Here I Raise My Ebenezer!

Have you sung this worship hymn and came across this phrase - "Here I Raise My Ebenezer!"?

In our reading of 1 Samuel (chapters 7 and 8 tonight) we come across the verse that explains this phrase: I Samuel 7:12, "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”"

Apologetics Press has a good article explaining this phrase:

One of the phrases that is of particular interest comes from the song O, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The lyrics of this song (which originally was titled Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing) were written by Robert Robinson in 1758. The second verse of the song begins with these words: “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” If you are like many who have sung this song, the word “Ebenezer” immediately brings to your mind visions of old Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ Christmas Carol, screaming at Bob Cratchet to conserve coal and get to work. Yet, we all know that is not the idea behind this song. Where, then, does the term Ebenezer originate, and what does it mean?

In 1 Samuel 7, the prophet Samuel and the Israelites found themselves under attack by the Philistines. Fearing for their lives, the Israelites begged Samuel to pray for them in their impending battle against the Philistines. Samuel offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for His protection. God listened to Samuel, causing the Philistines to lose the battle and retreat back to their own territory. After the Israelite victory, the Bible records: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us’ ” (1 Samuel 7:12).

The word Ebenezer comes from the Hebrew words ’Eben hà-ezer (eh’-ben haw-e’-zer), which simply mean “stone of help” (see Enhanced…, 1995). When Robinson wrote his lyrics, he followed the word Ebenezer with the phrase, “Here by Thy great help I’ve come.” An Ebenezer, then, is simply a monumental stone set up to signify the great help that God granted the one raising the stone. In Robinson’s poem, it figuratively meant that the writer—and all who subsequently sing the song—acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings and help in their lives.

The next time you sing about raising your Ebenezer, you will be able to “sing with the understanding” that you are acknowledging God’s help in your life (1 Corinthians 14:15).

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Other good verses from tonight's reading:

1 Samuel 7:3-4, "And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, 'If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.' So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only."

Comment: It is always tragic when God's people are idolatrous - having other gods. This is exactly what you have in this section: The people had "foreign gods" (which of course are no gods at all!) Their hearts were not wholly dedicated to the True God. And because of their incomplete obedience they found themselves oppressed by the Philistines. Samuel's remedy is found above: "If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." Many times God's people in this church age find themselves in similar circumstances. They are in a mess and they wonder why? Sometimes that mess is because of their own sinfulness and because of God's judgment upon His people whom He loves. And the remedy today is the same as the remedy then - "serve God alone"!

And when one serves God alone, there is victory. And when there is victory one can sing "Here I Raise My Ebenezer!" Ebenezer means literally Stone of Help.

Comment: Consider this helpful article - Raising Ebenezer: We are misguided when we modernize hymn texts - which argues for preserving archaic language in Christian hymns because they inform our faith in ways that contemporary language cannot. (See also this blog)

Quote:

One of my mini-crusades recently has been trying to help raise Ebenezer. I seize every opportunity to publicly lament modern revisions of that beloved hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," written by Robert Robinson in 1758. The revisions all seem to agree on deleting "Ebenezer" from the hymn's second verse, which begins, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer." Some of the "improvements" offered through the years include: "Hitherto thy love has blest me," "Here by grace your love has brought me," and "Here I raise to thee an altar."

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Happenings:

1. Rachel emailed us from Florence Italy this morning. Onto Rome tomorrow (I think). She arrives home a week from tomorrow.
   
2. I had a good day at work. I ordered a new company cell phone that should come in later this week.