On Thanksgiving Sunday, Pastor Léveillé directed the congregation to 1 Samuel 7 and the stone Samuel set up between Mizpeh and Shen. After years of the ark’s absence and repeated defeat by the Philistines, Israel turned back to the Lord. Samuel offered a burnt offering, cried out to God, and the Lord thundered against the enemy. The men of Israel pursued and smote the Philistines, after which Samuel took a stone and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). The word Ebenezer means stone of help. The message that followed urged the church never to outrun its gratitude. When believers lose sight of God’s goodness and move too quickly into the future without remembering what He has done, the result is a toxic and unhappy heart. Three responsibilities arise from the passage for every Christian who wishes to keep a pure and grateful spirit.
Return to the God Who Has Been Faithful to You
Before Israel could raise any memorial, the people first had to deal with their relationship to God. Samuel said, “If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 7:3). The children of Israel obeyed. They put away Baal and Ashtaroth and served the Lord only. They gathered at Mizpeh, drew water and poured it out before the Lord, fasted, and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord” (1 Samuel 7:6).
It is possible for Christians to list the blessings of God while remaining out of fellowship with Him. Israel’s problem was never that God had been unfaithful. The problem was their own unfaithfulness. Thanksgiving that only recounts gifts without returning the heart to the Giver falls short. John Newton, the former slave trader who later wrote “Amazing Grace,” understood this. In his later years he published Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade, acknowledging his own guilt and supporting those who sought to abolish the trade. Mercy received from God led him not merely to say “God has been good,” but to confront his past and refuse to return to what dishonoured the Lord.
The goodness of God is meant to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4). Whether a person has never trusted Christ or a believer’s heart has wandered, the proper response is more than a statement of fact. It is a statement of intent: because God is so good, the heart will return to Him. God’s blessings, though good and perfect gifts from the Father of lights, must never replace the Giver. Before any Ebenezer can be raised, the relationship with the faithful God must be set right.
Recognize Our Dependence Upon the God Who Helps Us
When the lords of the Philistines heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpeh, they came up against them. The children of Israel were afraid and said to Samuel, “Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 7:8). Samuel took a sucking lamb, offered it as a burnt offering, and cried unto the Lord. As the Philistines drew near, “the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them” (1 Samuel 7:10). Israel pursued and smote the enemy, yet the victory belonged to God.
Earlier, in 1 Samuel 4, Israel had carried the ark into battle as a good-luck charm while living in disobedience. That approach ended in disaster. This time the people placed their confidence in God rather than in an object associated with Him. They recognized they could not save themselves. Believers still have responsibilities. They are to be wise stewards, work diligently, and do their best as an act of worship. Yet even after preparation, effort, and wise planning, trust must rest on the God who helps.
The Apollo 13 mission supplies a clear illustration. After an oxygen tank exploded hundreds of thousands of kilometres from Earth, the astronauts faced a crisis they could not solve by their own skill. Engineers in Houston improvised solutions and sent instructions. The crew worked hard, conserved power, and followed procedures, but their survival depended on the team they could not see. In the same way, no amount of human strength, savings, or ingenuity can manufacture the help that only God supplies. Dependence on the Lord who helps is the only path through every season of life.
Remember the Help of God and Give Him the Glory
After the victory, “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). A couple of chapters earlier the glory had departed and a child was named Ichabod. Now the testimony was different. Samuel did not say, “Look how far we have come,” or “Look what we have accomplished.” He gave the credit to the Lord. The stone stood as a visible reminder so that Israel would not forget the fear, the prayer, the thunder, and the deliverance.
Memories are selective. Insults and betrayals linger while acts of kindness and God’s interventions fade. Cameras and photo libraries preserve pleasant moments, yet no picture can be taken of God, and He is forgotten far too quickly. Every answered prayer, every difficulty through which God sustained His people, and every provision that could not have been arranged by human effort becomes an Ebenezer. As a church, Faithway Baptist has many such markers: lives saved by grace alone, broken relationships mended, and quiet servants who pray and labour unseen so that others may hear the Word undisturbed.
The word “hitherto” looks backward and forward at the same time. God has helped thus far, and His faithfulness yesterday supplies reason to trust Him today and tomorrow. Parents set the tone for their children. When sons and daughters hear fathers and mothers magnify the Lord and say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us,” they learn to approach the future with less fear and greater confidence in God. Remembering the help of God and giving Him the glory keeps gratitude from being outrun.
Conclusion
Before any believer hurries on to the next thing, there is wisdom in stopping long enough to look at the road already travelled. The same God who brought Israel from Ichabod to Ebenezer remains faithful. His mercies are new every morning. Those who have never trusted Christ are invited to repent and believe. Those whose hearts have wandered are called to return. All are summoned to renounce self-sufficiency, recognize dependence on the God who helps, and remember His past faithfulness with deliberate gratitude. Then, and only then, is the heart ready to take the next step and walk forward with Him, declaring with Samuel, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
