May almighty God be pleased to
be with us and bless us as we worship together this morning
as we turn to his word. And we'll turn back to the passages
that we read this morning in the book of Ruth. Ruth and focusing
this morning on chapter three and verse 18. The last verse
in Ruth chapter three. Then she said, that is, Naomi
said, then said she, sit still, my daughter, until thou know
how the matter will fall. For the man will not be in rest
until he have finished the thing this day. We often think and speak of God's
providence. The children here may wonder
sometimes what that word means. What do we mean when we speak
of God's providence? Well, simply put, it means to
see God working in our lives, to see him in control, to see
him ordering, guiding, providing in our in our life day by day. And if you want an example of
God's providence, that is God working in people's lives, then
we see it in this book of Ruth. We only had time this morning
to read the last two chapters, but you can read the other chapters
at your leisure that you may be familiar with the account
of how God was blessing Ruth as an individual in her life. Now, we often say that providence
and grace are often very closely joined together. That is, the
things that God does in our life day by day are used to bless
us in our souls. to instruct us in spiritual things. And we can believe that that
was true in Ruth's life too. That the things God did for her
in her natural life were used for her spiritual good. But just looking at the natural
things first of all, just to marvel at God's providence. Think of how Naomi and her husband and her
two children go down into Moab. We might say that seems to be
a wrong direction, leaving Israel and going to Moab. People may
have judged them for it, may have said that they were doing
the wrong thing, may have said that they shouldn't have done
it and we can look on the surface and think well maybe that's right
but God had a plan And whether it was right or wrong, he was
going to use it for good. Because he would bring Ruth into
the family. Ruth marries Marlon, one of the
children, one of the boys in the family. But then there is
great sadness. Because all three men of the
family, Chilian, Marlon and Elimelech, their father, Dai and Moab, they
leave three widows, Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. But as you know, the
decision is made to go home. Well, I say home, it's home for
them. It's not home for Ruth or Orpah. And Orpah makes a decision to
go to her home. She goes back to her family in
Moab. But Ruth stays with Naomi. Now you can see God's hand there,
can't we? Here is a woman from Moab, and she's brought by God's
providence into a godly family. And then by God's providence,
a very sad time, the death of those three men, and yet God
is going to use that sadness for Ruth's good, because through
that, they return. They wouldn't have done it, probably,
if it wasn't for those sad deaths. But because of it, they returned
to Bethlehem. And God is bringing Ruth, this
outsider, we might say, a woman of Moab, he's bringing her into
the family of God. And he's using these circumstances
to do it. And so he brings them to Bethlehem
and happens to come at the time of the barley harvest. Now, that's
no mistake. That is God's plan. That's no
coincidence. God has brought them at a time
of barley harvest. And there is this man, Boaz. And Boaz is harvesting his field. And as the commandment of God
was, they allowed the poor people to glean the edges of the field,
to collect the grains themselves after the reapers. And Ruth goes
out to Glean, and she happens, we might say, to come to this
field. Again, you can see God's plan.
Of all the fields that she goes to, she goes to Boaz's field.
And the remarkable thing is that she finds out Boaz isn't just
a kind person, which he is, he isn't just a generous person,
which he is, but Boaz is in fact a very near relative. of her
late husband. And he is the second in line
to redeem the land that is by the family inheritance and in
doing so be able to marry Ruth. and raised children in the name
of Marlon and so the wonderful thing is that God has brought
her all the way from Moab through sadness and bereavement but has
brought her into the field of the very man who can help and
not only does she bring into his field But Boaz is given such
a spirit of obedience and of love and of submission to God's
will and God's commandments that he so willingly and lovingly
agrees and pays all that is necessary to redeem the land and to marry
Ruth. And then we see the wonderful
conclusion that here we have this birth of Obed and all the
joy that this brings to Naomi and the family and ultimately
as we read at the end we come to David the king and if we could
read it now with New Testament eyes this genealogy at the end
of the book of Ruth would take us all the way to Jesus. And so we can see the wonderful
workings of God that here is Ruth in the line of Christ, and
yet here is Ruth originally from Moab. And God has worked in his
providence to bring all these things together. But you notice,
and we must remember this, that God's providence doesn't mean
that everything's always easy. It doesn't mean that times are
always happy. It doesn't mean that if we believe
that God is in control and with us that we'll have a simple and
a quiet life. No, Ruth went through bereavement. Ruth went through sadness. Ruth
went through poverty. Ruth was just a gleaner at the
side of the field. But it didn't mean that God wasn't
with her. It didn't mean that he wasn't guiding her. So we
remember that in our lives. Well, like Ruth, she surely at
times couldn't see why things came to pass. Surely when her
husband died, when her brother-in-law died, when her father-in-law
died, she couldn't see why that would come to pass. And when
she's taken, really in quite a low place, just with her mother-in-law,
poor widows to Bethlehem, Why has this come to pass? But looking
back, as her son Obed is born, surely she could see the thread
of God's providence in it all. And it reminds us of Joseph,
doesn't it? Surely the times in his life, when he's falsely
accused in Potiphar's house, when he's cast in the pit by
his brothers, when he's left in the prison for years, forgotten
by the butler. Why? would that take place? And you and I might come to a
point, even today, or come to points in our life, when we ask
why? We can't see why God would bring
us there. We can't understand why God would
lead us there, why God would leave us there. And yet we can
believe there will come a day, like Ruth, we'll look back, like
Joseph, we'll look back, and be able to say that God meant
it for good. We might not understand it now,
but these accounts tell us that we can rest and we can trust
in him. And so we see God's providence,
but really this morning, I want to see God's grace. Because here
in this book, we have a wonderful spiritual picture. A spiritual
picture of a sinner who finds redemption in the Lord Jesus
Christ. One who comes with nothing, one
who comes poor, one who comes a foreigner or an outcast, one
who comes unworthy and yet rests in Him, trusts in Him and has
to rely on Him and finds the Saviour. who does everything
for them. Ruth found a Redeemer in Boaz
who did everything she needed for her. And this is a wonderful
picture of the sinner who finds the Lord Jesus Christ as one
who does everything they need for their soul. Well, I wonder
today if we can identify with Ruth as we look at this. I want you to notice in these
words, she says, Naomi says to Ruth, sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall. Sit still. Naturally, we're not very good
at sitting still. We might physically not be very
good at sitting still, but what I mean is we can't stop We want to be on the move. We
want to be doing things. We want to be getting things
done. We want to try and move the agenda on for what we're
hoping, what we're planning. And when God tells us to stop,
he tells us to rest, he tells us that we can't do anything
and we need to trust him, we're not very good at that. But here is good advice. As hard
as it might have been for Ruth, here is good advice. Sit still,
my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall. Sit still. What is this position
then, of sitting down, of sitting still? Well, surely it's a place
of dependence. It's a place of dependence. In Psalm 42, we read, twice and Psalm 43 once, there's
this phrase three times in two Psalms. Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his
countenance. And do you see what is the exhortation
here? The question is why are you cast
down? The end point is, I shall yet praise him. But what sits
in the middle between those two places? Hope thou in God. That's what sits in the middle.
That's what we are called to do between this being cast down
and this praising him. What does that mean? It means
sitting still. It means trusting. It means resting
in him. Hope in God. Not hoping what
you can do. A hope in your plans. A hope in your works. Hope in
God. Sit still. Okay? Think of another account in the
Old Testament of Moses and the children of Israel at the side
of the Red Sea. You know the account? Come out
of Egypt. Pharaoh and the army has chased
them as fast as the Red Sea. They are trapped between the
army and the sea. The people think they're going
to die. They complain. And Moses says this, fear not,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which you will show
to you this day. They wanted to be doing, but there was nothing
that they could do. They were trapped. But Moses
says, Stand still in the face of impossibility. In the face
of what might seem to be destruction, stand still. Why? You'll see
the salvation of the Lord. You see, it's not just a standing
still, it's a resting in the Lord. Isaiah has those lovely
words, doesn't he? In Isaiah chapter 30, thy strength
is to sit still. The strength in that position
of being still. And so sometimes the Lord in
our natural lives brings us to a point that we have to stop,
but certainly in our spiritual life. Have we reached a point
this morning that there's nothing you can do but sit? Do you have an impossibility
just like Moses and the children of Israel had in front of them?
An impossibility. And what's your impossibility?
Well, do you have a burden of sin? Do you have a mountain of
guilt? Do you have something which simply
cannot be overcome? Do you have so much failure,
so much sin, so much unbelief that it mountains up and it cannot
flow down and you cannot overcome it? And you cannot take it away
and you cannot undo it? It is sin, and you stand guilty. It cannot be taken away, it's
like a mountain before you, and it's a weight on your back. Like Christian, the pilgrim's
progress, carrying his burden. Couldn't take it away, could
he? He carried it, and as heavy as it got, he carried it and
carried it till he comes to the cross, but until that point,
there's nothing he can do. He can't loose it, he can't roll
it away. Do you feel like him this morning?
It's overwhelming. It's a heavy load. What can you
do? We can't do anything. We can't
do anything, can we? We can't undo sins we've committed,
we can't even promise not to commit them in the future. It's
a burden of sin and of guilt and can only sit still. We realize there's no works we
can do to take away our sin. We realize there's nothing that
we can promise to take away our sin. We realize that our righteousness,
even our good works, the Bible says, is as filthy rags, that
can't take away our sin. Our efforts, our resolutions,
Our hopes and plans to be holy, that cannot take away our sin.
There's nothing it can do but sit and to recognize what we
are. Recognize that we are sinners. Now that is an uncomfortable
place to be, isn't it? To have a burden of guilt and
be able to do nothing about it. That's an uncomfortable place
to be, but yet the word is telling us here, that's a good place
to be. A good place. Sit still. God has made you sit
still. God has put you there. He's put
you under that burden, He's shown you that sin, and He's made you
sit still, that your works, you know, cannot save you. He's taught you that. And it says be still. Now, because
Ruth isn't being told here to just sit still. Give up, Ruth. No hope for you. You're just
a poor widow from Moab. There's no hope from you. So
sit still, give up. No, that's not what she's saying.
She says sit still because Boaz is going to do something. You
will be still, but he will be active. You have to rest, you
can't do anything now, but he will do all. You see, the Lord
tells us that nothing we can do, but he does all and everything. And so, in one sense in this
word, we see a place of utter dependence. Nothing in ourselves. But then, let us be clear. What
is this not? What is not sitting still? Or what is sitting still not?
I hope I make sense there. Well, this sitting still is not
a position of laziness. It's not a position of being
fatalistic. This doesn't mean sit back and
just see what happens. Just forget about it. Don't think about it. Just see
what happens. This isn't might be all right,
might not be all right. Just sit back and find out. No,
it's not a fatalistic, lazy kind of sitting still. And we know
that because of what Ruth has done already. Look what she's
done. She's gone gleaning into the
field. She's been exhorted to stay with Boaz's maidens in that
field and she's done what she's exhorted to do. And when Naomi
tells her about Boaz and tells her to go to him that night,
she does it. She goes to him, she uncovers
his feet, she lays at his feet, she's essentially asking him
if he would take her. to be his wife. She sought him,
she went after him, she stuck with him and she made her needs
known to him. You see Ruth here is sitting
still but she hasn't been inactive. She's gone and sought Boaz and
she's laid her need before him and she's humbly sought that
he might take her case at hand and be her redeemer. She has
been very forward in a sense in seeking after Boaz and so
this sitting still is far from a lazy fatalistic sitting down. No, it's a going after the redeemer
and this is true for us, isn't it? What sitting still is not
sitting back and just waiting to see and just hoping that maybe
we might know the Lord. Coupled with this dependence
on Him is an urgent seeking after Him. We are called to seek Him. And surely this need that Ruth
has of a Redeemer to raise children in the name of her now departed
husband Marlon, and to be helped, her and Naomi. This need is what
drives her to seek for Boaz, and drives her to his feet that
night. It's the need that makes her
seek. It's the need that makes her
come. And you see, it's the need we have that drives us to the
Savior. We must go. We must seek him. We must lay our needs before
him. We must tell him our hopeless
case. We must tell him we have nothing,
we're a poor foreigner like Ruth. But we must, because there's
no one else that we can go to. No one else who can help us. We need a redeemer, and he's
the only redeemer. And so this sitting still is
not a fatalistic sitting down, It is coupled with a seeking
and a praying. Rather like that woman in the
New Testament, a woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years,
spent all that she had on the doctors, rather grew worse, nothing
she could do. What does she do? She presses
through the crowd in a hopeless condition. Weak, sick, ceremony
unclean, She pushes through. Because what
else can she do? It drives her to the Lord Jesus. If I may but touch the hem of
his garment, I shall be clean. And she knew she would. She knew
he had power to do it. And it drives her to him. This
is what the Lord does in the work and the soul. He drives
us to the Savior in our need. We seek after him. And so sit
still, my daughter. Well, what encouragement do we
have this morning to sit still? To give up all hope in ourselves?
Well, it's because He is active. It's because of what He has done.
It's because the Lord has done all for His people. Because the
Lord has redeemed them and there is nothing more to be done He has not been at rest at all.
He has come, he has worked, he has finished a work for the salvation
of his people. Ruth is told to sit still because
of Boaz. And this is the wonderful truth
of the gospel. The Lord brings us to a point
that we can do nothing and we have to sit with our burden of
guilt, but we do so resting in him. And then we find salvation. Then we find the power of the
gospel is when we see what he has done. Let's just look at
what Boaz has done. What could Ruth take at this moment
in time to encourage herself to sit still? What did she have from Boaz already? Well, she had already known his
kindness, hadn't she? Aye, back at the beginning, she
knew that he was kind. He said, go not to glean in another
field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. He tells her to stay there in
his fields that she would be provided for, that she could
glean in those fields. She had experienced straight
away his kindness, that he had received her, a widow from Moab,
and that he had encouraged her to stay, to keep coming. As she sits still at this time,
she does so knowing that Baraz is kind, that he has taken her
cause at hand right from the very beginning, that he has helped
her and encouraged her and received her right from the very beginning. This morning, can we look back
at the hand of our heavenly Babas, at the kindness of our God, and
see His goodness and see His grace in days gone by. Can you
look back and trace out the Lord's goodness in your life, in perhaps
years gone by, the times that He has helped in your time of
need, the mercy He has shown you throughout your life? Can you look back and see His
goodness in providing for you? Can you see His goodness in guiding
you? Can you see his goodness in helping you in difficult times? Can you see his goodness in answering
your prayers? Can you see his goodness? Trace
that through your life. You might say, well, I can't
rely on those things to save me. I can't rely on the fact
that God has provided what I needed. No, perhaps you can't, but surely
it encourages you that he is a kind God. that he is a God
who has looked on you in favor, like Boaz did for Ruth. She sits
down knowing that she's resting in the kindness of Boaz. But secondly, she not only rested
in his kindness, she rested in his provision. His provision. Boaz commanded
his young men, let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach
her not, and let some fall, also the handfuls of purpose for her,
and leave them that she may glean them and rebuke her not." He's
saying, don't just make her glean at the side of the field, the
scraps that are left behind. Leave some of the sheaves that
you have harvested and leave them there on purpose that she
can pick them up, the best of the crop that she can take home. He provided for her. Sit still,
my daughter. Rest in the work of one who's
provided for you. Have you got something from the
Lord? Something that's encouraged you? Some sweetness from his
word? Sometimes that the truth touched
you? Have you got an answer to prayer
that you can be encouraged with? Something that he has left, if
you like, of purpose? A little token of his goodness? A little sweetness? from his truth? Have you got
something that the Lord has provided you with? Again, you say, oh,
it's not enough. No, maybe you feel it's not. Does it not tell
you how kind, how good the Lord is? Sit still, rest in this heavenly
boas. But thirdly, she could rest in
his words. She can rest in his words. Blessed
be thou of the Lord, my daughter, thou hast shown more kindness
in the latter end than in the beginning. Inasmuch thou followest
not young men, whether rich or poor, now, my daughter, fear
not. Oh, what words of comfort. What words of love. He commends
her, doesn't he, for seeking him. He encourages her, blessed
be thou of the Lord, my daughter, that she came to him. She didn't
go after anyone else, she came to Him and He encourages her
for that. Commends her for seeking after Him. Oh, this morning we
have every encouragement from the Lord for seeking Him. Seek and ye shall find. knock and the door shall be opened
after you, ask and it shall be given to you, but seek and ye
shall find. We have for every encouragement
that the seekers find. Come unto me, all ye that labour,
and a heavy laden I will give you rest. He encourages us to
seek after him. You have his word. Sit still in that word that those
who seek find. And how wonderfully Boaz encourages
her. Fear not, and he gives her his
promise. This is the fourth reason to
sit still. The promise of Boaz. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. For all the city of my people
doth know thou art a virtuous woman. I will do to thee all
that thou requirest. What a promise for Ruth. That he will take her cause in
hand, he will go He will settle the matter. He will redeem her.
He will go to this other redeemer and try and sort out the situation.
He will take her cause. She can sit still in a promise,
can't she? There's nothing more she can
do, but she's got this promise to hold on to. He said he would
go. He said he would do all that
is required. He has said it, and there's nothing
in Boaz to doubt his promise. There's no reason to doubt him.
This morning the Lord has promised. Can we not rest in his promise? He has promised to seek and to
save that which was lost. He has promised to receive sinners. He has promised to forgive them. He has promised that if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Can you not rest in a promise? Because there's no reason to
doubt them. There's no reason to doubt Him. Can we not hold
on to this? Sit still, my daughter. Because
you know the promise of this heavenly Boaz. And then one fifth
further encouragement. When she was sent home, she was
given the six measures of barley. And she held it, he measured
six measures of barley and laid it on her and she went into the
city. And she said to Naomi, these six measures of barley
gave he me. And he said to me, go not empty unto thy mother-in-law.
She goes home with a token. She goes home with this barley
that he gave her. A physical reminder of what he
has promised. What do we have from the Lord? A reminder of what he has promised.
He sealed his promise with these measures of barley. Can we not
say he seals his promise by giving us his word? He's giving us his
word that cannot lie. It's a sign, it's an evidence,
it's a constant reminder. As she looks at these barley
measures, she must have been reminded of what he said. He gave these things to me. He
said these things to me. I can believe, I can rest in
what he is going to do. And she turns, she's reminded. Can we not be reminded of God's
goodness, of God's promises, of the glorious gospel of his
grace every time we turn to his word? Every time we hear, by
grace you are saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the
gift. of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Sit still, my daughter, until
thou know how the matter will fall. So you see, this sitting
still is a place of dependence, but it's a dependence on one
who has given every indication already that he is going to help,
he is going to redeem. And so she can sit still in quietness
and in rest as she trusts in Boaz. And so for us, can we see the
picture here? It says, still my daughter, until
thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not be
in rest until he had finished the thing this day. How can a
sinner, how can a sinner give up all hope in themselves? They do so because they look
to him, because they know what the Lord Jesus has done as he
came and paid that price for them on the cross. But the blessing
did come, didn't it? For a man will not be in rest
till he'd finished a thing this day, and he did. He did. Chapter four tells us of how
he went to the gate of the city, how he ordered it all, how he
sorted it all, how he paid the price for it all, and how he
took Ruth to be his wife. He did it all that day. How wonderful to see what the Lord
has done. The Lord Jesus Christ took all the cause of his people
in hand and he did all for them. They were helpless and ruined
by the fall and yet he did all for them. He paid the price. He bore their sin, he carried
their sorrow, he cleared the debt and he took them to be his
beloved wife, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. and that they
find all peace and blessing and mercy in him. And the blessing
flows this time of fruitfulness as Ruth has this child, Obed. What a blessing it is in the
years and generations to flow when the Lord gives fruitfulness
and an eternal blessing of life forever to the church, to his
bride. Can you see? The man will not
be in rest until he finished the thing this day he did not
rest. He came not to please himself, he came to serve and to follow
and to obey his heavenly father and he came to die. He came to pay that price and
he paid it to the full. You sit still. You realize you
have nothing. You give up all hope in yourself,
the Lord's put you there, the Lord's forced you into that position,
but you don't sit down in despair, because the man, Christ Jesus,
not be in rest, has not been in rest, has done all things
well. In those well-known verses, the
beginning of John chapter 14, let not your hearts be troubled,
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. It's a lot of weight in those
words, isn't there? I go. We see it in Ruth, couldn't
we? But the words almost embarrass
his mouth. I go for you. I go to redeem and to bring you
to be my wife. I go, and the Lord says, I go
to prepare a place for you. You can't prepare it yourself.
You can't get yourself there, but I go to prepare a place for
you. Let not your heart be troubled. Again, I come back to the point,
we're not good at sitting still. Our natural self wants to earn
our salvation. The natural self wants to work
her way in, so that we can claim some glory ourselves, so that
our pride can be bolstered, and say, we deserve to be here. But
this morning, as the Lord made you sit down, showed you your
utter inability, showed you your desperate condition, showed you
there's nothing you can do. All this morning, take every
encouragement of what the Lord has done and what he has promised.
And then may you be given grace, may we all be given grace, day
by day, to rest and trust wholly and completely in him. She said, sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not
be in rest until he has finished the thing this day. Well, may
God bless these thoughts from his word.