Ebenezer

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

Dr. F. W. Boreham told of a scrap of paper that was framed and displayed in his parents’ home. The words on it said: “Hitherto Hath the Lord Helped Us.” One day he asked his mother about it, and she told him of a time when she and her husband faced a crisis. She had been distressed for weeks, but one day as she paced back and forth, she paused in front of an almanac hanging from the wall.

“The only thing I saw was the text in the corner,” she said. “It was as if someone had spoken the words: ‘Hitherto has the Lord helped us.’ I was so overcome, I sat down and had a good cry; and then I began again with a fresh heart and trust.”

What a great verse for the New Year! The same God who brought us this far will lead us on. He is “our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.” If we live in the light of eternity knowing our times are in His hands, we can face each day “with a fresh heart and trust.”

Hitherto has the Lord helped us.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’m come.

ROBERT ROBINSON