I love the song “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” but I can’t help but notice that the lyrics change depending on where I am when it is sung. I have worshipped with brethren and, when this song is sung, the first verse goes like this:
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 Thy redeeming love.
Does that look right to you? Maybe it does. If not, what about this:
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 ever to adore Thee,
May I still Thy goodness prove,
While the hope of endless glory
Fills my heart with joy and love.
That’s the one I’m most familiar with. I can tell you that the former version is the original, as penned by Robert Robinson, who wrote the hymn at the age of 22 in the mid 1700s. At some point down the line the lyrics were changed. Both versions are beautiful, so to each his own.
One part of the song that hasn’t changed, however, and one thing that has caused many to scratch their heads, is this line from the second verse…
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
Hither by thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
To that, many have asked “who, or what, is an Ebenezer”? Is it the greedy old miser from A Christmas Carol that we’re singing about? No. The word is an old one; it is an ancient Hebrew name, and it means “stone of help.” That, however, doesn’t really satisfy. What does that mean, stone of help? The Biblical significance to it is found in 1 Samuel…
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.
(1 Samuel 7:12)
The stone was placed there by the prophet as a memorial to remind the people that God is on their side and will help them through any battle so long as they follow Him. At this time, the Philistines had been frequent foes to Israel, constantly invading their territory and getting into skirmishes, but on this occasion God’s voice thundered from the sky and drove the enemy army back. That’s when Samuel established this monument. After which, the Philistines stopped invading the land of God’s people “for all the days of Samuel” (1 Samuel 7:13).
So, the meaning of the word “Ebenezer” is no mystery. In fact, the song itself makes it very clear what it means:
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
Hither by thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Often we talk about the help God will give us. Indeed, many songs we sing are structured around that forward-looking idea (“Faith Is The Victory,” or “When We All See Jesus,” etc), but this verse, though it ends with a look to the future (“I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home”), it begins with a reminder that God has already guided as this far and helped us many times along the way. When we sing this song, we are telling the Lord “we are establishing a mental monument, a metaphorical ebenezer-stone, to remind ourselves how your help has brought us to this point. Thus, we look ahead with confidence that You will lead us the rest of the way home.”
~ Matthew