"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." (1 Samuel 7:12)
"The word 'hitherto' seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet 'hitherto hath the Lord helped us!' Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health; at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation -- 'hitherto hath the Lord helped!'
"But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark, and writes 'hitherto,' he is not yet at the end; there are still distances to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death.
"Is it over now? No! there is more yet -- awakening in Jesus' likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss.
"Oh, be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy 'Ebenezer,' for,
"He who hath helped thee hitherto
Will help thee all thy journey through."
"When we read in Heaven's light, how glorious and marvelous a prospect will thy 'hitherto' unfold to thy grateful eye."
- C. H. Spurgeon
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