Memorial Day - Raising 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 God's unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm 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 that grace now 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.

“O Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Hymn, written by Robert Robinson in 1758.

I love this old hymn. However, for a long time I didn't understand what raising my Ebenezer meant in the second verse. In 1 Samuel 7:12, we see the common Old Testament practice of using a stone to memorialize God's provision. Samuel named this stone Ebenezer, literally "stone of help." This stone was to serve as a tangible reminder of God's help in the past - to help the Israelites trust God for His help in the future.

On this Memorial Day, what's your Ebenezer? What has God done for you that shouldn't be forgotten? On days when bills come due, I remember the time we received a check for exactly the amount we owed on a large bill. This helps me trust God to provide for our current needs.

I have a journal that I used to keep only my praises and thanks in - my Ebenezers. But, I haven't been good about keeping that journal current. On this Memorial Day, I want to be sure to memorialize God's goodness to me by committing to write in that journal more regularly.

I hope you'll consider starting an Ebenezer Journal, too. God is truly the fount of every blessing.

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your goodness to us. Thank You for being a trustworthy God. Help us to remember the help You've given us in the past, so we can trust You in our present and future.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen