Ebenezer!

‘Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.’ 1 Samuel 7:12

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 103:1–22

We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose he wrought all his mighty acts in days of old, and showed himself strong for those in the early time, but does not perform wonders or lay bare his arm for the saints that are now upon the earth. Let us review, I say, our own diaries. Surely in these modern pages we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had no deliverances? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you not been saved in six troubles? Yea, in seven has not Jehovah helped you? Have you had no manifestations? The God that spoke to Abraham at Mamre, has he never spoken to you? The angel that wrestled with Jacob at Peniel, has he never wrestled with you? He that stood in the fiery furnace with the three holy children, has he never trodden the coals at your side? O beloved, he has manifested himself unto us as he does not unto the world. Forget not these manifestations; fail not to rejoice in them. Have you had no choice favours? The God that gave Solomon the desire of his heart, has he never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty, has he never satisfied you with fatness? Have you never been made to lie in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters? Surely, beloved, the goodness of God of old has been repeated unto us. The manifestations of his grace to those gone to glory has been renewed to us, and delivering mercies as experienced by them are not unknown even to us.

For meditation: Spurgeon chose this text as an appropriate motto with which to praise God on the occasion of the preaching of sermon number 500 in his weekly New Park Street Pulpit and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit series. What is your reaction to the benefits which God has showered upon you? Check it against Psalm 116:12–14.

Sermon no. 500
15 March (1863)