Many of us seniors are familiar with the old hymn, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come.”

Combining Old English with an obscure Hebrew word, this lyric has been used as an example for why church music needs to be modernized.

But instead of discarding a treasured song of our heritage, why not use this antiquated phrase as a teaching moment?

The end of each calendar year is always a time for reflection over the past to see where we have been before launching out into the new year.

During the time of Samuel the prophet, about 1150 BC, God gave the Children of Israel a great victory over the Philistines in the Promised Land.

Eben is the Hebrew word for stone, and Eben-ezer means “a stone of help.”

After their great victory on the battlefield the Bible records, “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)

If we have been living as God’s people, this is what we need to be doing as we come to the end of 2019.

Has God given you victory in any battles this year? Can you look back and trace the hand of God that has brought you this far on your journey? Can you declare, “Thank you God for helping me make it through another year?”

You can set up a “stone

of help” literally or figuratively and give thanks to God for who He is and what He has done to bring you to the doorstep of 2020.

I pray it will be a great year of victorious living for you and your family!

Next Week: Start the year with forgiveness

Dan Williams is the senior adult pastor at Lexington Baptist Church.