Ebenezer

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Hither by Thy help I 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.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be,

And 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 Lord, take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

The reference to an Ebenezer stone comes from 1 Samuel 7:12-14, when Samuel set up a stone as a reminder that it was God who had helped them defeat the Philistines. The word Ebenezer–or Even Haazer, in Hebrew–comes from the words for “help” and “stone”, so it’s literally a “stone of help.” An Ebenezer is anything that reminds us of God’s faithfulness.



Even though I know that I have come this far only by God’s help, my heart is still prone to wander. I pray that God would bind me to himself, fetter me so I cannot stray. He sought me and saved me, and I never want to forget that.