In the reading from First Samuel we hear of a battle that did not go so well for the people of Israel. Over against the Philistine army with their iron weapons of war, Israel in desperation goes to Shiloh and brings the Ark of the Covenant into their midst as a protector and encourager. The shouts of joy put forth worry the Philistines for a bit, but not enough. Israel desperately loses the battle and the Ark. In time owning the Ark will not prove wise for the Philistines and they will desperately want to return this powerful symbol of God's presence. It becomes a curse to the wrong people.
All this happens in a place called Ebenezer. The place was not actually named Ebenezer at the time. Later when the Philistines return the Ark and lose the war to the not now anointed David leading Israel, the place is so named.
"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, 'till now the LORD has helped us.'" Samuel 7:12.
The stone is a memorial, a reminder of God's help, and means "stone of help." It speaks to the solidness of God with God's people, God's "rock-ness." Ironically this is the name of the place where the Ark is lost, only later to be returned. By God's strength they will finally win over the Philistines. It should not escape our notice that this occurs after the mere shepherd boy, David, is raised up by faith to lead Israel's army.
One might think of the hymn "Rock of Ages" but another comes to mind, one I love and find touches someplace deep. "Come thou Font of Every Blessing" has the line, "Here I raise my Ebenezer." Here it is.
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.
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.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O 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, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
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.
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.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O 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, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
This hymn, now edited, was written in 1758 by a young man who led a street gang until he was converted by the great preacher, George Whitfield. He composed this hymn at age 23 after he himself became a pastor, though like the hymn he would wander off this path.
Much later, "He was...traveling on a stagecoach when a lady sitting next to him was reading a hymn book and read out this hymn and said how wonderful it was. He replied "Madam, I'm the poor man who wrote that hymn many years ago. I would give a thousand worlds to enjoy the feelings I had then." It was indeed true- he even says in the next verse "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it...."
Source: The Complete Book of Hymns- Inspiring stories by William J. Peterson and Ardythe Peterson
We all need an Ebenezer, a touch stone in our pilgrimage, to know and be known by God. When first I sang this hymn in Seminary the line that captured me was: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Is this not the universal struggle, having been loved by God we will journey off. We will betray some core value etched by God on our heart Yet by some divine grace, some inner call, we will return to those core parts of our self and journey, hopefully home.
Our Ebenezer may well be a battle of faith lost where another has helped us reclaim it. It may be some early place where we have tripped on God's care and grown and years later come back it. Perhaps we cannot re-engender the freshness of early wonder, innocent faith. But we can for a moment touch it as a gift now remembered. In the touching we know God and are known.
My Ebenezers are many: a grandfather, the first time I took communion, an elderly woman on a path who called me to sit with her, a gentle coach who forgave my fear of balls and aided me in swimming well... So many places where something of God's love reached out and I took hold, not forever but for long enough.
Take some time today. Touch your Ebenezer.
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