Daniel Hope

When he finally reached the chariot, Philip asked the Eunuch, "Do you understand what you are reading?" (Acts 8:30). A similar question that is appropriate to ask worshippers of God today is, "Do you understand what you are singing?" Or, instead of asking this question, we could state more pointedly, "Raise your Ebenezer to ether plains if you know who Ebon Pinion is."

For starters, Ebon Pinion is not a person. "Ebon" is a shortened and poetic form of the word "ebony," which means "dark" or "black." And "pinion" refers to the feather or wing of a bird. "Night, with Ebon Pinion" is a song that describes with images the night in which Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest. The author of this song sees this night as a dark night. The darkness is portrayed as a large black bird hovering over the Kidron Valley and casting a dark shadow on the praying Savior (Lk. 22:53).

"‘Tis Midnight, and on Olive’s Brow" is another song that speaks of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The fourth verse of this song begins with these words: "‘Tis midnight, and from ether plains…." The phrase "ether plains" is a figurative reference to the upper regions of space or Heaven. You may remember that is was from these "ether plains" that an angel came to strengthen Jesus as He prayed in agony (Lk. 22:43).

There are at least two songs that we occasionally sing—"The Lily of the Valley" and "Jesus, Rose of Sharon"—that use imagery found in Song of Solomon. In Song of Solomon 2:1, Solomon’s bride refers to herself as the lily of the valley and the rose of Sharon. In the next verse Solomon uses this same image of the lily to speak about her. Clearly, the Bible does not use these metaphors to describe Jesus, but rather Solomon’s bride. However, it is not inappropriate to employ the images of flowers to remind us of Jesus’ majesty, beauty, humility, and purity.

If someone were to ask you to raise your Ebenezer, what would you raise? The second verse of "O Thou Fount of Every Blessing" begins with the words, "Here I raise my Ebenezer." In order to understand this phrase, you must be familiar with the narrative found in 1 Samuel 7. Samuel persuades God’s people to forsake their idols and serve the true God. They then all gather at Mizpah to renew their covenant with Jehovah. When the Philistines hear about this gathering, they send their troops to attack them. As the Philistines advance, Samuel sacrifices to God and asks for His help. God then causes the heavens to roar with thunder, which confuses the Philistines and causes them to retreat. To commemorate God’s intervention for His people, Samuel sets us a stone and calls its name "Ebenezer," which means "stone of help" (1 Sam. 7:12). When we sing this song, therefore, we are acknowledging God’s blessings and care in our lives. When we sing this song, we are in essence standing beside Samuel and erecting our own "stones of help" to recall the providential blessings of God.

Remember, if we are going to follow the guidelines given in 1 Corinthians 14:15 and "sing with the understanding," then we must understand what we’re singing.