Do you know the hymn
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
? Ever wonder what the words
"Here I raise my Ebenezer"
in the second verse mean? This hymn was written over 250 years ago, and I imagine many who sing it do not know what
Ebenezer
means.
Written by Robert Robinson in 1758, the reference to raising an
Ebenezer
refers back to I Samuel 7:12 in the Old Testament.
Samuel took a stone and . . . named it Ebenezer, saying
"Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
The spot where Samuel placed this stone or monument is the exact place where the Israelites had been defeated again and again by the Philistines. The day Samuel builds a small pile of stones and names the place
Ebenezer
is the day in which God gave the Israelites victory over the Philistines.
In the original Hebrew, an Ebenezer means
stone of help
. It is a monument, a reminder of God’s presence and provision in a time of difficulty.
Buck Rock, pictured here, stands high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 8,500 feet. One of the last standing fire lookouts sits atop this huge stone. Buck Rock also marks many trail heads for awesome mountain bike runs.
Buck Rock is
my
Ebenezer. It is a reminder of God’s incredible comfort in a time of deep sorrow. Buck Rock is where . . .
- Tony and Scott often began their mountain bike treks.
- Tony, Amy and I, with a host of friends, scattered Scott's ashes from a high crevice in 1996.
- Friends gathered rocks to build a memorial to Scott, which still stands today after 17 years. (One of the rangers who works the fire lookout frequently tends to the memorial as she remembers the young boy who would come up to ride.)
- We still gather to remember Scott and rejoice in the blessed reunion yet to be.
Buck Rock, my
Ebenezer
, does not deny my pain, but rejoices in the hope of things yet to come. Buck Rock can be a painful reminder that Scott no longer rides with Tony, but we know from the pile of stones that remain as a memorial that we do not bear this burden alone. Buck Rock, an incredible monolith, would slide off the side of the mountain were it not for the massive shelf rock that lies beneath it.
Likewise, our faith and hope is built upon
The Solid Rock
.
How glorious it is many mornings to look east over our back fence and see the outline of Buck Rock, rising from the crest of the mountains off on the horizon. I raise MY Ebenezer, a reminder of God's strength in my weakness, God's comfort in my sorrow, God's promise of victory even in my difficult times.
