The hymn Come Thou Fount has a word in one of the stanzas that when sung today most people don’t understand; the word “Ebenezer.” The word is a reference from the book of I Samuel chapter 7 verse 12. Here is a longer portion of scripture that better explains the setting/context:
7When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard ëabout itû, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, so that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
9Then Samuel took a young lamb£ and offered it as a whole £burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.£ 10Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel. The LORD thundered loudly£ against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.£ 11Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.
12Afterwards, Samuel took a stone and set it upright£ between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,£ explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.”
God was their strength. God was their deliverer. This is what they prayed for. In response to God’s faithfulness Samuel set up a reminder a monument, and named it Ebenezer.
The picture that accompanies this post is of a stone bench our congregation set up as a reminder of God’s faithfulness as we began or most recent building project.
Do we take the time personally to set up reminders of God’s faithfulness and more specifically answered prayers?
I forget more often than I remember. It seems I move on to the next request and forget (maybe don’t pay attention is a better phrasing) what He has already done?
The next question is what should I set up as a monument? I journal my prayer requests now I think it is time to make a specific list of God’s answers somewhere I can look at them often.