11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover them with favor as with a shield. – Psalm 5:11-12
We absolutely know that God is with us. God has been with us through so much if we stop and take note. Each of those moments is what the Bible would call and Ebenezer marker. For most of us when we think of ‘Ebenezer’ we either think of that other church down the road, or around Christmas time we might think of the scrooge character. However, the word itself is a reminder that ‘God has been with us thus far.’ It is that reminder to look back and see the markers of our live when our faith was strong, or rattled, and we made it through by the grace of God.
Therefore, we can rejoice even more now, because if God has seen us through thus far, God will continue to see us through the life that is ahead. Every day we have reason to sing, to rejoice, to know that God’s name is exalted because God is with us, and has never left us, and will never abandon nor forsake us.
I believe it is for this reason of knowing God’s everlasting presence, and the joy of His amazing grace that a twenty-two year old, Robert Robinson penned the words: “Come, thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing Thy grace…” We may remember that the second stanza of that beloved hymn begins by saying: “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.”
The truth is Robinson like many others had found what the psalmists speaks of. They had found the One to whom they could take refuge, and they had reason to rejoice all the way to their eternal home.
I hope that we find reason to rejoice today, and everyday in the shelter of God’s loving embrace.
Grace & Peace,
Sam