FBC Morning Worship Service

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Sunday morning service from Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning, and I hope you're doing well with the weather and got dug out and everything that you needed to do.
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A little bit frustrated with our weather forecasting and all of that kind of thing.
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All that they said yesterday looked like today would be a horrible day to try to do everything we were planning to do for the day, so it seemed to be a reasonable thing to do to make those calls.
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And then I got up this morning and realized, you know what, for most of us anyway, this didn't turn out to be nearly as bad as was expected.
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So, oh well. We do what we do, we make the decisions we make, and in the
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Lord's providence, here we are with what we have. So, some announcements
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I just want to share. Because of the cancellations today, next
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Sunday we'll be having our annual meeting at the one o 'clock time, and the soup luncheon that we had planned for this noon, we'll just do that next week.
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So everything's just pushed back a week. And I looked at the long range forecast and I don't see any snow in the forecast for next
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Sunday. It's just supposed to be really cold. I mean, really cold. So we'll see how that all works out.
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But anyway, we'll have that annual meeting and the soup luncheon next
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Lord's Day. So next Sunday also, we're planning to do some resuming of activities.
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Sunday school classes resuming at 9 .30. And then we also have not been having an attended nursery for a few months.
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And we will resume that next Sunday as well. That's for infants through age three.
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Two weeks from today, on February 14th in the evening, at six o 'clock in the evening, we'll be having a
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Valentine's dinner and that's going to be hosted by Michael and Kelly Bliss. They've done that for the last three or four years and very, very nice time we have together.
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If you're planning to attend, would like to attend, that's two weeks away. The sign up sheet, it'll be up on the board next week.
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But you can also text Kelly or send an email, Facebook message, whatever, and let them know if you're planning to attend and they'll get you on the list and plan accordingly.
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Well, I want to begin with Psalm 89, verse one, and it says, I will sing of the steadfast love of the
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Lord forever with my mouth while I make your faithfulness known to all generations.
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I had, of course, plenty of hymns picked out to sing this morning.
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There are half a dozen people or so in attendance and my bride said, are you going to have us sing?
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I said, well, of course. She said, no, no, it'll sound horrible. It'll sound horrible. What she was getting at is that the live stream microphones would not pick up anybody in the congregation singing.
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You would only pick up my singing. So I think what I'll do, excuse me, is just read a couple of the stanzas that planning to use for great is thy faithfulness, first of all, and then we'll do that a couple other hymns later on.
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So great is thy faithfulness as we begin this morning. Great is thy faithfulness,
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O God, my father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not.
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Thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
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Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies
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I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness,
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Lord, unto me. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
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Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
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Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10 ,000 beside.
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Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies
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I see. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness,
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Lord, unto me. Let's pray.
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Father and our God, we are grateful for thy great faithfulness and we're thankful that here in the middle of winter, that is a testimony of your faithfulness in creation.
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Because we know that winter will pass and springtime will come and it will pass and then will come summer and then autumn and then back to winter.
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Year after year, season after season, faithfully those seasons change and they are testimony of your great faithfulness.
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We praise you and thank you today that we can trust you because of your great faithfulness.
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Times that seem hopeless and times when we might be prone to despair.
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Oh Lord, may we remember your faithfulness and therein find hope. This we pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen. I want to read Psalm 36, a portion of it, verses 5 through 10.
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And then we're going to, well I had planned to learn a new hymn today, but it's to a very familiar tune and it uses some of the same, some of the same phrases.
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So we'll do that after this, after the psalm reading. Psalm 36, verses 5 through 10.
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The psalmist writes, Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth under the clouds.
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Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. Thy judgments are a great deep. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
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How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God. Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
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They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. And thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
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For with thee is the fountain of life. In thy light shall we see light.
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O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
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The Lord add his blessing to the reading of this psalm together. So I found a hymn.
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I was wanting to sing the hymn Under His Wings because of its connection to the text in the book of Ruth.
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A couple of places where you have the idea of being sheltered under the wings.
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And so I looked up this hymn and then I found an alternate to it.
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It uses the same tune to the familiar tune Under His Wings or hymn
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Under His Wings. But it's actually, the text is actually taken from Psalm 91 which is where you get the phrase
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Under the Wings of the Almighty. So Kelly's going to play that tune for us and I'll just read a couple of the stanzas and we'll come back to this in the future and learn this hymn together.
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It's an excellent, excellent hymn. So it's entitled Under the Care of My God. Under the care of my
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God the Almighty, safe in the secret place of the Most High. He is my refuge, the
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Lord is my fortress. Him I am trusting when trouble is nigh.
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Under His wings, under His wings, safe in the refuge hide thee.
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Trusting His truth and faithfulness, no evil can betide thee.
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Be not afraid for the terror of midnight, nor for the arrow that hasteth to slay.
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Fear not the pestilence walking in darkness, nor the destroyer that wasteth by day.
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Under His wings, under His wings, safe in the refuge hide thee.
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Trusting His truth and faithfulness, no evil can betide thee. Love thou the
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Lord, surely He will deliver. He will exalt thee and answer thy prayer.
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He will be with thee to honor and give thee life without end, His salvation to share.
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Under His wings, under His wings, safe in the refuge hide thee.
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Trusting His truth and faithfulness, no evil can betide thee.
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So I do appreciate Kelly and Michael coming today to Kelly to play the piano for us.
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I'm not sure how they were going to make it to from out in the country, but thank the Lord they did and didn't have any problem doing so.
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As we pray together as a church family today, our missionary this week is the Barillas, and they serve in Cameroon and West Africa.
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And they've had some rather challenging situations lately. There's been a rash of break -ins in the building, their church building, church facilities.
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So a couple of weeks ago someone broke in and, if I recall correctly, stole like all of their chairs and furniture from the building, and didn't catch the intruders, perpetrators apparently.
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But then there have been other attempts at breaking in as well. So they finally had some people from the church, some individuals from the church, staying at the church to scare off anybody that might come.
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And that happened a couple times. And then I got an email from Mark the other day, and he mentioned that somebody else was staying there in place of the person who was doing so.
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And again, a couple of, I think three or four teenagers or young people came to the place and attempted to break in as well.
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And the person who was guarding scared them off. And apparently there's supposedly security in that area to prevent this kind of thing.
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But they're suspecting that one of the persons in charge of that security is kind of like in on the break -in.
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So this is a challenging thing for their church. So we want to pray that those who are behind this, they get caught, they get apprehended, and that that ceases.
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Cameroon also is another one of those places in our world that is a hot spot. A lot of conflict going on, as in a lot of countries, but particularly targeting
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Christians. And so we want to pray for the welfare, the safety and security of God's people in Cameroon.
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We also want to encourage you to pray for Connie, who is having some tests done on Tuesday for a physical need.
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And that'll be at Rush Hospital in the Chicago area. So I want to pray for Connie. So let's pray together, shall we?
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So our Father and our God, we're thankful that those who are your people, they can trust in you and find shelter under your wings.
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Wonderful expression, a figurative expression of the protection that you offer your children.
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As a mother bird would guard and shelter her babes in her care and her love and kindness.
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So you do your children. We thank you for that imagery. We thank you for your word that uses it to describe the shelter, the protection, the safety that is ours in Christ Jesus.
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As we find refuge in you, our God. And we think of that need for refuge and safety, for security, for the
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Barillas and for their church family. And think of the violence, the crime being committed against the building, the property.
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And Lord, that is bad enough. And we would pray that you would bring to light those that are behind this and those that are causing this kind of damage and loss to the building, to the facility.
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But we also pray for this all to turn and you be used by you and your providence to bring attention to what's going on in that facility.
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That you are being worshiped, that the gospel is being proclaimed. And that which
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Satan might intend for evil, I pray that you would turn it about for good and bring souls to Christ through this, which is meant for evil and malevolence.
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Father, I pray for the physical protection of Mark and his family, for the believers of the church there.
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Lord, I pray that the hostility against Christians that is being experienced in other places in Cameroon would not find its way to where the
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Barillas are serving and ministering. I just ask that by your grace, you would protect them.
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And Father, we also pray for Connie as she faces these tests on Tuesday. I pray that they would provide some conclusive insight and direction for treatment.
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We also pray for Bob this week as he's scheduled to receive another round of chemo.
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I pray that his body would tolerate that and he would respond well. And that the upcoming scan would reveal an effectiveness of all of these treatments.
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Father, we pray for your people today that you would give protection as some will be out shoveling and caring for their property and dealing with the snow.
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I pray that you protect from any harm or injury there. We also pray for safety for those who have to travel today.
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And Father, we pray for those who cannot get out at all. Those who are shut in, we ask for your mercy and your kindness to them.
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I pray that you would encourage those who are feeling lonely and isolated in this time of not only the
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COVID restrictions, but the darkness and the coldness of winter.
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I pray that you would give warmth to the heart and comfort to the soul. Father, thank you again for the opportunity we have to open your word today to hear from you.
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And we pray that you would use your word in our hearts and our lives. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.
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One other hymn that I wanted to share before the message this morning is the hymn, Be Still My Soul for those in the congregation 296 in our hymnal 296.
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Book of Ruth is a book that begins in despair. And one of the messages that Ruth or Naomi could have told herself was to be still my soul.
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The Lord is on thy side. So I want to read some of the couple of stanzas of this together.
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Be still my soul. The Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
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Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change, he faithful will remain.
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Be still my soul. Thy best, thy heavenly friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
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Be still my soul. Thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past.
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Thy hope by confidence let nothing shake. All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
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Be still my soul. The waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
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I'd like to read Ruth chapter 3 today. It's a little longer than our normal scripture reading, but you really need to get the whole story in this chapter.
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I'm going to be reading from the ESV today. I'm going to do so because of a couple of places where the translation is much more helpful and accurate and insightful than what we might otherwise read in the authorized version.
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So in Ruth chapter 3, begin reading in verse 1. It says,
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And Naomi, her mother -in -law, said to her, that is to Ruth, My daughter, should
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I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were?
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See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor.
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But do not make yourself known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies.
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Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And she replied,
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All that you say I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother -in -law had commanded her.
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And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
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Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight, the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
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He said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.
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Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. And he said,
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May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether rich or poor.
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And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask. For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
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And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight and in the morning.
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If he will redeem you, good. Let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the
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Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another.
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And he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. And he said,
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Bring the garment that you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.
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Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother -in -law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter?
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Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me.
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For he said to me, You must not go back empty -handed to your mother -in -law. She replied,
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Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
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A brief prayer. Father, I pray that as hope has dawned in this woman's heart, we would be encouraged to see how hope blossoms in the presence and the promise of redemption.
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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, on our very brief visit to Colorado last
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August, Chris and I went out for a little hike in the mountains around Breckenridge.
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And it was a rather strenuous hike for us lowlanders up in the higher elevation.
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But as we hiked along, we came across a fairly large patch of forest that had obviously been burned, scorched a few years earlier.
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It's hard to tell how many years earlier, but sometime earlier. And the trees all around in that whole area were obviously burned, and they were blackened, and many of them were dead.
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Some had, after the fire obviously, had been blown down by storms or whatever.
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And it seemed to be a rather hopeless, despairing situation.
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But in the midst of that, right in the middle of this patch of black dead trees, there was one small, vibrant, green, evergreen tree that was maybe six feet tall at the most.
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And it was like the only thing there, everything around it was just black. And it struck me to such an extent that I pulled out my camera, and I had to take a picture of that.
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It was just so stark, the contrast. But that stark contrast, that one lone, vibrant, healthy, green, evergreen tree in the middle of all that blackness, seemed to express hope for the forest.
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That even after a terrible firestorm can sweep through the region of a forest, that area from the embers and the ashes that will remain, something can grow, and the forest can continue and eventually thrive.
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Well, the Puritan George Swinnick wrote this. He said, A little hope may melt that heart which despair would harden.
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How delightful it is when a little hope melts a heart in despair.
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And how delightful when hope, which was all but dead, germinates in the heart and then blossoms in the life.
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Isn't this what we're seeing in the book of Ruth? Especially in the heart, particularly in the heart of Naomi?
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This delight of hope blossoming and growing, this delight is vividly displayed here in this chapter that I just read in Ruth chapter 3.
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Because Naomi's once -dead hope is breaking out in full blossom in this passage, and it's blossoming in the promise of redemption.
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Let me remind you that for Naomi, hope is bound up in these three things.
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In place, in permanence, and in purpose.
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Place, permanence, and purpose. The place, the land, the permanence, not eternal life necessarily, but the permanence that is a family permanence, the offspring.
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In chapter 1, she has no hope of any further offspring and that the family will die out. But now hope is blossoming.
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And then purpose. Naomi at the end of chapter 1 has lost all sense of purpose.
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She has no purpose left in life. But that is re -emerging. Hope is re -emerging.
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Hope is actually blossoming. What I want us to see here is how hope lives in this passage.
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As it's blossoming, it is alive. How does it come to life? Well, notice in the first couple of verses that hope lives as you look at your circumstances clearly.
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Look at your circumstances clearly. So Naomi is looking at the circumstances with a fresh set of eyes.
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As she sees in the beginning of verse 2, the emergence of the Redeemer.
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She says, is not Boaz our relative? Now, that may need a little explanation for our modern 21st century
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American ears. How is, how does that, how does that bring forth hope?
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Well, the relative in this case would be a Redeemer. That is, one who can deal with the plight that Ruth and Naomi find themselves in.
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The Redeemer is one who would, who would hopefully take
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Ruth to be his wife, and in that union, produce offspring.
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And the offspring, the child that is born to Ruth from Boaz, would be a child who would carry on the name, the family name of Elimelech.
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Again, that's a strange custom to us. But it was a way whereby a family name could perpetuate, could have permanence.
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So that no family in Israel would be eliminated. So Naomi recognizes she's looking with a fresh set of eyes, and she sees the emergence of the
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Redeemer. Because Boaz is a relative, and he therefore is a potential
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Redeemer. Remember back in chapter 2, verse 1, begins saying that Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was
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Boaz. And somewhere along the way, Naomi expressed to her, to Ruth, communicated to Ruth, that because of Boaz's position, he could be a
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Redeemer. How do we know that? Because later on here in verse, chapter 9, verse 3,
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Ruth tells Boaz, spread your wings over your servant, that is over herself, for you are a
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Redeemer. You are a Redeemer. So hope lives as Naomi sees the
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Redeemer's emergence. But it also lives as she sees the Redeemer's grace.
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Boaz is our relative, with whose young women you were. Now here what
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Naomi is doing is referring back to chapter 2, and the fact that when
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Ruth said, you know, I got to go find us something to eat, we're going to starve to death, let me go glean in a field.
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Let me go play the part of the impoverished woman that I am and that you are, and go to somebody's field and pick up the scraps that are left over.
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That's what she planned to do. So off she went. And when she came to a field, she asked if she would be allowed to glean there, and permission was granted, and then some.
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And it wasn't just any field, the fact is she just so happened to land at Boaz's field, the relative.
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And Boaz didn't just allow her to pick up the scraps, he treated her with tremendous grace.
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He accepted her in spite of her background. Remember in chapter 2, verses 8 and 9,
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Boaz said to Ruth, Listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.
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Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have not I charged the young men not to touch you?
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And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. He treats her with grace and accepts her despite her background.
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Her background being a foreigner, a Moabite woman. She didn't have any claim to any of this.
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She didn't deserve any of this. She had every right to expect to be treated maliciously.
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And yet he treats her with grace and accepts her. And he treats her with grace by showing her favor despite her status.
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In verse 13 of chapter 2, Ruth says, I have found favor in your eyes, my
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Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant. Now listen, though I am not one of your servants, in spite of my status, you have shown me favor.
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So Naomi is looking at the circumstances here. And she sees the emergence of the
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Redeemer. And she sees the grace of the Redeemer. And hope is blossoming.
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Hope lives as she sees these circumstances clearly. By the way, note who is alert to these circumstances.
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Naomi. Naomi. Remember the end of chapter 1?
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Don't call me pleasant. Call me bitter. Because the
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Lord has been bitter toward me. Her hope was gone at the end of chapter 1. But now hope is blossoming.
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I wonder, has hope blossomed in your own heart? Is hope living in your heart?
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Because you too have seen the emergence of the Redeemer, the Redeemer, the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And you have seen him who is gracious, who will accept you despite your background, despite being a sinner, who will treat you with favor despite your status as one lost and undone.
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Oh, look at your circumstances clearly. The Redeemer has emerged. And then secondly, hope lives as you look for some hopeful possibilities.
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You look for hopeful possibilities. And here in this passage, there are several things that show
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Naomi seeing some hopeful possibility. One of those things is the goals that she establishes, the goals.
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And there are two of them that she expresses in verse 1. She says, my daughter, here's goal number one, should
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I not seek rest for you? Now, obviously, she's not talking about, you know, a comfortable bed and a nice pillow where she can sleep.
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The rest that she's talking about is, it literally could be translated to be well -situated.
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Should I not seek a situation for you that is a good one, where you are well -situated?
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Now, if you look back in chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, that is exactly what
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Naomi prayed for Ruth, but in a different setting. In chapter 1 verse 8,
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Naomi is trying to get her daughters -in -law, Ruth and Orpah, to go back home.
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Ruth has decided to leave Moab and go back to Bethlehem. Orpah and Ruth said, okay, we'll go with you.
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Ruth, Naomi really doesn't want the burden of having to be responsible for two other widows.
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So she's trying to encourage them to go back home to their own families, where they could have hope of carrying on life with a new husband and so on.
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So she says to them, go return each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
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And then she says this, the Lord grant that you may find rest.
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There's our word again. The Lord grant that you may be well -situated each, now listen, each of you in the house of her husband back home in Moab.
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So Naomi's expecting in chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, she's expecting that for Ruth to be well -situated, it's going to require that she remain in Moab.
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But here she is in Bethlehem. And she just so happened to come across the field of Boaz, a redeemer.
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And now hope blossoms, hope lives as she sees this redeemer and it inspires in her the hopeful possibility of rest.
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That here in Bethlehem, Ruth can be well -situated. This is what she prayed for, but she's now set the goal of seeing an unexpected answer to that prayer.
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And then a second goal comes out in verse 1, not only that she seek rest for Ruth, but that it may be well with you.
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It may be well with you. Her goal is not only that Ruth be well -situated, but that she experiences and enjoys well -being, a life that is well -lived.
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Now for Ruth and Naomi's perspective, this would mean bridal happiness.
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In that, she would find a sense of security. Being well -situated and a life well -lived would also mean a long life and a certain measure of material prosperity.
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But most importantly, children, children. Remember the scope and the elements of hope in Naomi.
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Place, permanence, and purpose. So here's the thing, as Naomi establishes these goals that reflect her hopeful possibilities, she's also recognizing that this would satisfy her hope.
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It would fill her once again, Naomi, with hope. Well, there's an opportunity here that presents itself, and this opportunity that comes out in verse 3 is an opportunity that also provides hopeful possibilities.
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Possibilities. And the opportunity is that, in verse 2, that Boaz is winnowing barley at the threshing floor, and he's doing it tonight.
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He's doing it tonight. Boaz is at the threshing floor.
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This is an opportunity of availability. He's not back home in the confines of his house.
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He's out in the open at the threshing floor. It's a public place. It was like a central location in the expanse of the harvest fields where the various harvesters would come.
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They'd come to this one place, the threshing floor, and they would take their turns at threshing their barley, threshing their grain.
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And this is where Boaz is. So he's at a public place. This makes him available for contact.
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Well, there's another circumstance here that presents an opportunity for this coming plan, and it's the mood that Boaz would find himself in.
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He's harvesting his grain. It's harvest time. He's winnowing it.
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He's producing the fruit of months of labor. And we live in an agricultural community, an area, and we all understand the joy that is experienced on the part of the farmers as they reap a bountiful harvest.
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And so Boaz's mood would be elevated, and this in itself presents an opportunity here, and Naomi recognizes it.
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There's another hopeful possibility seen in the plan that Naomi hatches.
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And what a plan it is. Again, this sounds a little bit odd to our ears, certainly beyond our custom.
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Normally, there's sort of a, historically in our culture, an unwritten rule that a lady, a young lady who is hoping for marriage, awaits for the man to make the proposal to marriage.
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And she's delighted when he does, presumably. It's not a very common thing when those roles are reversed and the young lady proposes to the man.
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Well, that's what's going on here in this plan that Naomi hatches. And the plan is for Ruth to be alluring.
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See this at the beginning of verse three. She tells mother -in -law, tells her daughter -in -law, go take a bath.
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I mean, really, that's what it is. Wash yourself. They didn't have the luxury that we have of daily showers with all the comforts of hot water and everything else.
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I mean, how often did they bathe? Well, I don't know. But what I do know is that before she's going to the threshing floor,
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Naomi tells Ruth, go wash yourself, go bathe, and then anoint yourself.
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That is, put on some perfume so that you're not only clean, but you smell attractive as well.
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So she's to be alluring. And in this plan, it demands some privacy.
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Now, that privacy would be inviting for the carrying out of the plan.
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Notice at the end of verse three, she says, go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
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There's to be privacy in this. Now, that in itself, on the one hand, is inviting because, well, to be frank, this could be an opportunity for Boaz to take advantage of her physically.
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If he chose to do so, and what would Ruth do? She's there privately.
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She's not letting anybody know that she's there. Fortunately, Boaz is a man of character, and he doesn't do that, but that's the potential.
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But it's also protecting this privacy. It's inviting, but it's protecting in the sense that nobody else knows that she's there, so there can't be the wagging tongues that could go talking with some kind of salacious gossip about these two and what took place on the threshing floor.
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If nobody knows that she's there, the privacy protects her. And then what Ruth is to do is send some signals, and those signals would be most obvious.
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At the end of verse four, she says, when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go and uncover his feet and lie down.
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Again, that sounds awful weird to us, doesn't it? Go uncover his feet? What in the world?
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What is this? I mean, uncover his feet? Well, there's a lot of speculation about the significance of that and the symbolism of that.
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But the bottom line is, his feet would get cold, and that would cause him to wake up.
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That's exactly what happens. That's exactly what happens. But then there's a symbolism to it as well.
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There's a signal that is sent because Naomi goes on to say that when you uncover his feet and lie down, he will tell you what you need to do.
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So Boaz is going to get a message from that action of Ruth's, and he will tell you what to do.
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All right, so this is a plan. This is quite the plan that signifies some hopeful possibilities on the part of Naomi.
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But what I want you to see is, who has devised this plan? Who's come up with this plan?
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This plan did not come from the heart of somebody whose hope was dead.
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If she was still so in despair and hopelessness as she was at the end of chapter one, she would never even think of this.
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No, hope is blossoming. Hope lives as you look at your circumstances clearly, and hope lives as you see hopeful possibilities.
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Thirdly, I want you to notice in verses five through nine, how hope lives as you look at the cooperating role of others.
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Others go along with the plan, if you will. What if Ruth had said, mom, are you kidding me?
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I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to go down to the threshing floor and make myself alluring to this guy.
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And by the way, Boaz is probably a much older man. I mean, we have no idea how old he was and so forth, but he was likely an older man because of what he says later on.
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Talks about how she could have gone to the young men. Instead, she came to him. So, you know,
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Ruth could say, you know, mom, this guy's old enough to be, you know, maybe my dad.
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I'm not going to go present myself to him. But that's not what she does.
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That's not what she does. In verse five, she makes a promise. She says, all that you say,
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I will do. In other words, Ruth views the directions that Naomi has given as a command to obey, not as a suggestion to weigh.
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She accepts the plan and makes a promise. I will do what you say.
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And then in verses six through nine, she fulfills the promise. So like in verse six, the beginning of verse six, it says she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother -in -law had commanded her.
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She's very careful in fulfilling this promise as her mother -in -law told her to do.
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And she observes in verse seven, when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
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She observed this. She's careful to do everything exactly as Naomi had said.
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And she's also cunning. What I mean by that is what we read at the end of verse seven and on into verse eight.
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She came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. And at midnight, the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
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I mean, can you imagine the Shazam moment for Boaz? She's quite cunning in quietly, secretly, subtly, fulfilling this direction of uncovering his feet and just lying down, laying down there at his feet.
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And then as he asks in verse nine, who are you? Look at how clear and concise she is.
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She says, I am Ruth, your servant. I'm Ruth, your servant.
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That's all she would need to say. Because it has only been, it hasn't been that long since Ruth, his servant, was in his grain field gleaning the barley.
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Boaz would know exactly who she is. So she fulfills the promise. And then she goes beyond the promise.
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She goes beyond the promise. Now remember, Naomi's hope lives in this cooperation on the part of Ruth as she carries out, as she obeys and she submits to the responsibility that's been placed upon her shoulders.
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But she doesn't just comply, she owns it. And you see the ownership of this plan on the part of Ruth at the end of verse nine, when she says, spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
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And what she asks for is two things. She says, I want you to be my protector.
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I want you to be my protector. Spread your wings over me.
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And what she's actually doing, now think with me about this, she's telling
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Boaz, Boaz, answer your own prayer. How so?
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We'll look back at chapter two and verse 12. Because in chapter two, verse 12,
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Boaz says to her, the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given you by the
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Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
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There's our phrase from that hymn we were saying earlier. I read earlier, under his wings, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
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So what Boaz is saying back in chapter two, verse 12 is, you have come to the God of Israel to find refuge under his wings.
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May the Lord give you that refuge. May he give you that refuge. May he bless you with protection and provision and what you need under his wings.
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Now she comes to Boaz in chapter three, verse nine, and says, spread your wings over your servant.
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Spread your wings over your servant. I want you to be my protector. I want you to answer your own prayer.
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By the way, oftentimes the Lord will use other people to be his wings.
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He will. Have you noticed that, observed that in your own life? You have come to take shelter and refuge under the wings of the
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Lord, your God. And how many times has the Lord used somebody else in your life to bring about that protection and that provision?
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I would also ask you this. Have you come to your redeemer and called out to him to be your protector?
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Have you found shelter and refuge under his wings?
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So she says, I want you to be my protector. And then she says, for you are a redeemer.
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So here she's saying, I want you to be my redeemer. And there is a ton involved in that.
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And what that implies as Boaz hears that request, that proposal on her part is for him,
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Boaz, to commit himself to her in marriage and to provide for her a child.
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And that that child, that first child would not carry on the name of Boaz, but would carry on the name of Elimelech's family.
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First child would take that responsibility. Boaz hears that, he understands that.
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He also understands that he would be responsible for her, for taking care of her needs, for providing for her and seeing to it that she is secure for the rest of her life.
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Be my redeemer, she says, which is exactly what you and I need to pray and call out to our
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Lord Jesus for. Be my redeemer, my protector, my savior.
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Have you called upon him to be your redeemer? So hope lives as Naomi looks at this cooperating, this cooperation on the part of Ruth.
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And the hope will blossom in all of that. And then in verses 10 to 13, notice how hope lives as you see gracious acceptance.
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You see gracious acceptance. What is Boaz going to do? Is he going to play the part of the redeemer or not?
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Well, he graciously accepts, not simply the proposal, but he accepts her, he accepts her.
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So in verse 10, he says to her, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
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May you be blessed by the Lord. At the end of verse 11, he says, for you are a worthy woman.
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You are a worthy woman. He accepts her as a person of great character, a worthy woman.
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And by the way, back in chapter two, verse one, when we're introduced to Boaz for the first time in that little foreshadowing of what was to come, again, and I appreciate the
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ESV translation of this because it shows the connection here. We read that Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech.
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It's the same word. Boaz is a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech and Boaz sees in Ruth that she is a worthy woman.
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Indeed, this is a well -matched couple. They are both people of great character.
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Boaz also sees her to be a person of covenant loyalty because he says in the middle of verse 10, you have made this last kindness greater than the first.
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This last kindness. That word, if you're familiar and you've been hearing the teaching we've been sharing over the last few years is the
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Hebrew word hesed. Oftentimes, in the King James, it's translated loving kindness, sometimes steadfast love.
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This is a word that is used of God and his covenant loyalty, that he is a God of hesed.
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And Boaz is referring to Ruth and he says to her, you are a woman of covenant loyalty, a person of covenant loyalty.
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And she expresses this covenant loyalty as he goes on to say by pursuing him rather than one of the young men, whether rich or poor.
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And what he is acknowledging there is that if she wanted to, Ruth could marry a peer, someone her own age, and she could marry a guy either out of love, so regardless of his financial status, even if he's poor, or she could marry simply for the desire for security if he's rich.
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But she doesn't do that. She doesn't try to find a husband in her own age group out of her own selfish interests and selfish concern.
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Instead, she's pursuing Boaz because Boaz is a redeemer. Boaz can give the hope and security and permanence and purpose to not only
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Ruth, but to Naomi, covenant loyalty. He commends her for this.
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And she is a person, he says, of exceptional reputation. He says everybody in the community, right end of verse 11, he says everybody in town knows that you are a worthy woman.
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He accepts her. He also accepts her proposal. He says at the beginning of verse 11, and now my daughter do not fear,
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I will do for you all that you ask. I'll do everything you ask.
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He accepts her proposal. And he accepts her challenge in verses 12 and 13.
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He says, I know it's true, it is true that I am a redeemer, but look at his character here. Look at his character.
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He's a man of integrity. He says, it's true, I am a redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
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So, I mean, you know, Boaz, you know how old he is, but he's obviously a much older man than Ruth.
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And how flattering this would have been for him to have been approached by this younger woman who comes to him and says,
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I want you to be my redeemer. And he could have very selfishly said, done,
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I'm going to do it. But no, he says, he's a man of integrity. He says, there's a redeemer that is nearer than I.
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So he's going to do the right thing. He's going to approach this other redeemer first. He's also a man that's in love.
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He's a man that's in love. We see that in verse 13. He says, remain here tonight.
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And in the morning, if he will redeem you, okay, he'll redeem you, let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the
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Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. He's going to act fast.
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He's going to act fast. As soon as the sun rises, I'm on this. I'm on this.
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All right, now look, hope lives as you look at your circumstances clearly. Hope lives as you look for hopeful possibilities.
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Hope lives as you look at the cooperation of others. Hope lives as you see gracious acceptance on the part of the redeemer.
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And then hope lives as you see the promise unfolding in verses 14 through 18.
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The promise begins to unfold as the redeemer ensures the protection of the redeemed, the one who's going to be redeemed.
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In verse 14, he says to her, he says, as she lay down, she rose before anybody could recognize.
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Then he said this, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. He wanted to ensure her protection.
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He's protecting her physical well -being, but also her moral reputation.
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He does not want to give any opportunity for the Bethlehem tongues to wag as they could very easily do.
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He ensures her protection. But he also, in verses 15 through 17, supplies provision.
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This is what a redeemer does. He protects, he provides.
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And then notice how he provides here in verses 15 through 17. His provision is overwhelming in verse 15.
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He says to her, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it out and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.
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And then she went into the city. Six measures. Now, we don't know how much was actually given here.
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There are different weights and measurements in Old Testament times. But the general consensus is that the amount of grain, winnowed barley, that he put in her garment was about 60 to 70 pounds worth of grain.
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This is an overwhelming abundance for her to carry back home to Naomi.
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The quantity is overwhelming, but the purpose of it all is overcoming. Here's what
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I mean by that. In verse 17, she gets back home, Ruth gets back home to Naomi, and she says to Naomi, the man told me these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, you must not, listen to get this, you must not go back empty -handed to your mother -in -law.
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Notice the care and concern for the mother -in -law. Now here's the overcoming part of this provision.
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Back in chapter one, look at verse 21, where Naomi says,
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I went away full. She's talking about when she left Bethlehem. When I left Bethlehem, I went away full, but the
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Lord has brought me back empty. He's brought me back empty.
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In chapter one, Naomi experiences two kinds of emptiness, the emptiness of famine and the emptiness of childlessness.
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Neither food, nor progeny, nor children. But here in chapter three, as well as in chapter two,
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Boaz provides abundantly and his gifts banish the famine.
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And here, here in chapter three, as he gives abundantly, even far beyond what he gave in chapter two, he gives abundantly, this is like a down payment that all of the emptiness, all of the emptiness that Naomi was experiencing, that robbed her of hope, all of that emptiness would be filled.
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It would be banished. And then this Redeemer, as the promise unfolds, the
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Redeemer assures prosperity. The assurance is so firm that in verse 18,
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Naomi tells Ruth, listen, hang on my daughter until you learn how the matter turns out and it's not going to take long for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
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Listen to the confidence expressed in Naomi's voice. Now listen, contrast that with the end of chapter one.
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I am bitter. I am hopeless. The Lord sent me away empty or sent me away.
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I went away full. The Lord has brought me back empty, hopeless, in despair.
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But now she's filled with confidence. Why? Hope is blossoming with the emergence and the promise of redemption.
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So behind this hope breaking forth and blossoming in Naomi's heart is
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God's wonderful provision of a Redeemer. If you're listening today, you find your heart hardening in a sense of hopeless despair.
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Look to your Redeemer. Hope lives as you look to Him.
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I was reading earlier this morning, a little devotional by J .C.
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Ryle, and in that devotional, he wrote this. He says, at the very time when things seem hopeless,
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God may be providing a mighty deliverance. There's hope in your
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Redeemer. Hope lives as you look to Him. Let's pray.
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So our Father and our God, I pray that today, as we've been reminded in this wonderful and delightful account of hope blossoming in the life of Naomi and of Ruth, that that hope would also be blossoming in our own hearts and lives.
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Maybe some listening today who are feeling a sense of dark despair and hopelessness.
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Oh, Father, I pray. I pray that we would realize there is wonderful hope in your provision of a
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Redeemer. May we look to Him. Our hope will live as we look to Him.
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This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to close with a song in our hymnal.
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It's a song, There is a Redeemer. It's 190 in our hymnal. And it's a couple of stanzas here that are particularly poignant for our message today.
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There is a Redeemer. Jesus, my
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Redeemer, name above all names. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain.
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Thank you, oh my Father, for giving us your Son and leaving your Spirit till the work on earth is done.
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When I stand in glory, I will see His face. There I'll serve my
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King forever in that holy place. Thank you, oh my
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Father, for giving us your Son and leaving your Spirit till the work on earth is done.
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And now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the
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Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. This we pray in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen.
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May the Lord bless you and keep you and guard you under the shelter of His wings.