I Have Raised My Ebenezer

COURAGE..."E" The Last Letter Of The Word COURAGE

E = Ebenezer

The definition in Webster's New World Dictionary is this:

Ebenezer: of the Hebrew language meaning 'stone of help'

"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying , Hitherto hath the LORD helped us." (I Samuel 7:12 KJV)
The last letter in the word courage is E and for this letter, though there be many words I could choose, I must choose the word Ebenezer because of what the word Ebenezer means in Hebrew.
Without the 'stone of help', the 'solid rock' to which Christ Jesus is referred, I could not make this journey towards attaining courage at all.

One of my favorite hymns from the time I was a very young girl mentions the Ebenezer and raising it towards God.

Here are the words and a little history about this hymn I remember from my childhood so well and that I love so much.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is a Christian hymn composed by the 18th century Methodist pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. In the USA, the hymn is usually set to an American folk tune known as Nettleton, composed by printer John Wyeth, or possibly by Asahel Nettleton. Robinson penned the words at age 22 in the year 1757. In the UK, the hymn is also often set to the tune Normandy by C Bost.

Since its origination, this hymn has since been revised and now appears in modern hymnals as the following (and how I first heard it as a young girl.)

1. 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.


2. 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.


3. 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.

The original text of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" as written by Robert Robinson in 1757:

1. 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 his Name, I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

2. Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I'll begin;
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.

3. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

4. 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.

5. O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Though I first heard as the second version, I prefer the full first version as penned by the original author. This hymn I first heard when I was about nine years old and I have always loved it....the beauty of this hymn speaks of the mercy, grace and help of God, it also offers hope for the wandering stranger...rescue from danger...it tells of an endless day that is coming soon when we will be free of the chains that bind us to this world. It talks of raising one's Ebenezer, where by the help of the Lord I've come...So...my word for the letter E is Ebenezer ~ Stone of Help.

After all, how can I, a mere human with my many failings, gain courage without my own Ebenezer...my Stone of Help...My Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ, to anchor me when the winds of doubt and fear toss me about trying to tear me away from my journey back to living again...and my endless quest for COURAGE.