Amen, well, if you would open your Bible to Ruth chapter one, and it won't be on the screen this morning, so you will have to open your Bible or look on your cell phone. Ruth chapter one. You can read verses one to five and then jump over to verse 12. Hear the word of the Lord. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Mal, Lon, and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem and Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives. The name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. They lived there about 10 years, and both Maolon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband." Now look at verse 12. Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. Let's pray one more time. Holy Father, you are able to come and work deeply in us this morning. As your word is proclaimed, help us to see the glory of Jesus Christ. Minister to our hearts, deal with us, cut us, prune us, that we might be a fruitful people. Come, Holy Spirit, and do wonders. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Well, we are in the midst of a series that will last up until Easter. And really, the theme of the series is to look at Old Testament narratives and to see common problems that we all, as believers, face that are not new to us, but have been a part of human history since its existence. and to see how God deals with those situations. And so we did this a couple of years ago, if you remember, for those of you who are here, we had a series called Common Virtues, or Lost Virtues was what we called it. And we would go into these Old Testament narratives, And we would see godly virtue exemplified by biblical characters. And we would draw that out and say, these are lost virtues in our culture. We need to get back to living this way. We need to see what God says is virtuous and lovely and good and be obedient to that. And in this series, it's sort of the same, but we're looking at common problems. And as you know, our world is filled with problems. doing some research right now, and I found, and this isn't new to anyone, the mental health crisis is up and up and up. More and more people, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, believe that they have a mental health issue. And so as we see the world progressing in technology and progressing in medicine, which I'm very thankful for, we do see that at the same time, our world by and large is not progressing morally. On the contrary, we could probably all agree that it is doing the opposite. It is going the wrong way morally. And despite the technological advances, We know that we are not merely bodies. We are not merely material beings. We have a soul. We feel, we hurt, we love, and the world cannot escape that. Being made in the image of God cannot be utterly denied. And so as we look at this series, what we want to do is see how the scriptures are sufficient to deal with life's problems. We've been saying that for years, we will continue to say that, that the Bible is sufficient. That was the primary premise of the Reformers and it's a premise that we hold to and that we are going to cling to and fight for. And what we mean by that is that the Bible is sufficient to tell us how to know God, how to have peace with God, how to get to heaven, But not only that, the Bible tells us how to obey God and how to love Him, how to love our neighbor. It tells us how to respond to life's difficulties. and the problems that we face, that isn't minimizing medicine, that isn't minimizing technology, that's not minimizing the complexities of the human situation, but what it does say is that God has spoken to us and that he has given us all we need to obey him and to honor him and to love him. And so I want to jump into this book this morning, the book of Ruth. We were supposed to be in Samson looking at addictions, We're gonna jump into the book of Ruth and talk about the problem of being bitter at God. The problem of being bitter at God. You know, the problem of evil is perhaps the biggest reason that people claim that they do not believe in God. Some would make other arguments, but by and large, it is the problem of evil. If God exists, and if He is good, and if we are to trust Him, how can all these horrible things be happening in the world? How can horrible things be happening to me? How can there be car wrecks, and cancer, and war, and fighting, and destruction, and murder, and oppression? if God exists and if He is good. And this is a question that we must come to grips with. And we must be ready to answer to the world. Many people have experienced such harsh and severe circumstances. Many caused by their own sin. Many caused by the sins of others against them. and many, oftentimes, caused by situations that are not their fault or the fault of another, but the product of living in a fallen world. So it's neither their sin nor the sins of another, at least from our vantage point, but people struggle, they suffer, cancer, car wrecks, tragedies, things that we can't explain, things that we just fall on our knees and say, why, how, how could this happen? Many, many people, believer and non-believer alike, have experienced these things. And this has often been argued, and I think it's probably true more often than not, that people who claim to be atheists, especially those that have this deep-seated drive to disprove God. Have you ever seen these folks? It's their burning zeal for life, is to disprove God and to come against the church and to argue that everything that stands for God in the church is evil and horrible. Many people have argued, and I think this is true, that if you really begin to press some of the issues of their hearts and really begin to get into why they believe the things that they believe, it is because they have a deep-seated anger and bitterness at God. over the circumstances that they have faced in life and responded wrongly to. And they betray their atheism very quickly and show how angry they are at God. You can see this in debates. You can see this in talks. We've probably all experienced this. The idea that they're agnostic or atheist, they betray that very quickly and become angrier at God than they show anger toward anything else in the world. I was one time many years ago doing some evangelism in a trailer park here in town. Me and a few others did an outreach in a trailer park, and we were just knocking on the doors and inviting people. And I remember knocking on this man's door, and I just said, hey, we're out here. I can't remember what I said. We're the church. We're sharing the gospel. We're having an outreach. come eat and hang out with us, and he just looked at me with the most angry face and slammed the door in my face. Do you think he was just a frustrated man? Possibly. Probably he has a deep-seated anger and bitterness at God and at the church. What about for Christians? What about for Christians? Why am I suffering like this? Why am I dealt this situation? God, I'm serving you. I'm following you. I'm reading the word. I'm in church. I'm doing what you said to do. Why are you dealing me these circumstances, Father? Are you angry at me? Are you smiting me for sin that I am unaware of? What am I being punished for? We hear this, we feel this often. I just want a normal life. I want to be able to do the normal things that you've called me to do. I just want a normal family. Why couldn't you just give me normal parents? All these things are very relatable to us. And the question needs to be asked, is it legitimate to be angry at God? No, it is not legitimate to be angry at God. James 1.13-15 says it this way, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. And Romans 8.21 says that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption. What does that assume? That it is in bondage to corruption. And we see tragedies, we see hurricanes, we see tornadoes destroying cities. We see viruses, we see corruption. That leads us right into Ruth chapter one, verse one. Look at it again, it says, in the days when the judges ruled. So that's our context for the book of Ruth. The days when the judges ruled, and we're actually studying in the book of Judges right now. What do we know about the book of Judges? Is it a morally upright time in Israel's history? No. What's the cycle? That the children of Israel don't drive out the nations like they were supposed to, and they begin to be led astray by the nations and their gods, and they apostatize. And then the Lord, jealous for His people, gives them over to judgment by allowing their enemies and the nations to suppress them and oppress them and cause them harm. And then what do they do? They humble themselves and they cry out. And God gives them a deliverer, a judge. And then that judge delivers them, and there's peace for a while. And then what happens? They go after other gods. They apostatize. And the cycle keeps happening. That's our context for the book of Judges. And it gets progressively worse. It gets worse. As you read the book of Judges and you get toward the end, we read it last week, Pastor brought this out, that when Samson becomes the judge, no one's crying out to the Lord anymore. And then after Samson, there's this really horrible story that sounds just like Sodom and Gomorrah. And there's war in the tribes of Israel and people are dying and people are raping and murdering and these horrible things are happening in Israel, not in the nations, in Israel. And the author repeatedly tells us, there was no king in those days. The people did what was right in their own eyes. That's our context for the book of Ruth. And then it goes on to say, there was a famine in the land. It's context clue number two. Is there supposed to be famine in Israel? No, there's not supposed to be famine in Israel. Listen to Deuteronomy 28, one through six. And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord, this is Moses speaking to the children of Israel before they come into the land, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, and if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Listen, blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds, and the young of your flock. Blessed shall your basket and your kneading bowl be. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. That's Deuteronomy 28. God is saying, look, children of Israel, if you obey my voice, if you will obey my commands, you will be blessed. You won't worry about a famine. You will have bread. You will have the fruit of the ground. Your cattle will have offspring. There will be plenty to eat. There will be abundance in the land of Israel. You'll be set above the nations. And the nations will come to you to see the blessings that the Lord your God has given you. But what's happening here? There's a famine in the land and then look what happens next. A man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab. The Moabites are supposed to come to Israel to be blessed. The peoples of the world are supposed to see Yahweh's glory in Israel in an obedient people and all the blessings that he gives. But yet in this moment, there's a famine in the land and the people are leaving Israel and going to Moab. That's our context for this book. That's problematic. This is a time marked by great disobedience and iniquity. This is a time marked by the land being under the hand of God's judgment. And he goes on to say, the name of the man Elimelech was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon, which means weak, and Chilion, which means sick. and they died along with Naomi's husband. Now, before we begin to judge Naomi, because I want to draw out from Naomi her response to God over these harsh circumstances, but think about this in Israel. When you were a woman and your husband and your sons died, that was losing everything. I mean, we in our day and age, this is like the lowest it could possibly get. This is as bad as you could possibly get circumstantially. She loses her husband. She loses her two sons. And now it's her and her two Moabite daughters. And they're stuck. And they are broken. And Naomi begins to become very bitter at God. Look at verse 12 and 13 again. She says, turn back, my daughters, go your way. Go back to Moab. Go back to your gods. There's nothing for you in Israel. What can I give you? What should she be saying? Come to Israel, the Lord will provide. Forsake your old gods. Come worship Yahweh, he'll provide for us. But she is bitter and she says, turn back, go back to your gods. For I'm too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? And she says, no, my daughters. Listen, listen to this. For it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me. That's how she feels about this circumstance. And then look over at verse 20 and 21. When they come back to Israel, and it says the town begins to be stirred because she comes back, verse 20, she said to them, do not call me Naomi, call me Marah, which means bitterness. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" At one level, Naomi has a accurate view of God's providence. At another level, her attitude is filled with cynicism toward God. Bitterness kills hope. Proverbs 13, 12, hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Have you gotten to a point in your life Maybe now or in the past where your heart toward God is more like Naomi's than you would ever have imagined when you got saved. Have you ever watched your dreams and your desires? I'm talking about godly ones, righteous ones, not worldly passions, godly dreams and desires. Have you watched them fall and crumble before your eyes so many times that the hope is quelched and your heart has become sick. And though you may not speak as rationally and openly as Naomi, your heart posture sounds just like hers. That describes many Christians, brothers and sisters. And it describes many people in this world, and the Bible has something to say about it. You know, don't call me blessed. I can just imagine. Don't call me blessed. Don't tell me the Lord is working in my situation. If you only knew my pain, if you only knew my body and the hurt and the pain that I feel, if you only knew my family, my husband, my spouse, my kids, do not call me blessed. If you knew how long I was praying and waiting for my wayward children to come back to the Lord, if you knew how bitterly the Lord has dealt with me." We feel this, don't we? We've heard this, probably most of us. And so what do you say, brothers and sisters? How do you counsel your own heart? And how do you counsel another who is in this situation? From a biblical counseling perspective, if you're a counselor or if you're just a Christian friend, what do you say to someone like that? Someone who has gone through such dire circumstances, whether they are real or perceived, what do you say to them when their hearts are calloused and they have developed an unbiblical view of God that said, God wants to hurt me? He wants to punish me, He's angry at me and there's nothing that will change that. He's dealt bitterly with me and I'm just gonna deal with it. This is what happens when we lose hope and become bitter. We begin to live life kind of on edge around God, don't we? As if He just wants to slap us around and whack us. You know, many of you, Most of us, if we haven't yet, we will at some point receive the call. You know what I mean by the call? The call you didn't expect. The call that everybody's heart drops when they get it. And they know immediately that their life has changed forever. I received this. Most of you know this story, I'll tell it again. I was at work on a normal day, doing normal things. I was teaching at a school here in town, doing my normal routine, and for some reason, I know the reason I won't share it, I went out into the foyer just for a school-related issue, and I see my wife in the foyer crying her eyes out. You don't expect that on a regular workday. And I walked out, and she's crying her eyes out, Everybody's saying, go get your stuff. And so I went and I got my stuff and I left and, you know, you're just kind of racing in your heart and panicking and don't really know what's coming. And I got the word that my mom had died unexpectedly in her sleep. But by and large, we thought she was healthy, wasn't expecting it. Everything seemed normal the day before. And she likely had a heart attack in her sleep. And it took me months, maybe even years after that, to shake off this feeling that it's going to happen again, and it's going to be worse next time. And there's something in you when you go through a moment like that, where the next time you get a call, your heart drops. And the next time someone who calls you that doesn't normally calls you, you immediately assume the worst and you begin to think strangely about, should we overcorrect and should we not drive as much? Maybe, what if God wants to make us get in a car wreck? Maybe we can avoid that by not driving as much. And you begin to do all these really weird things to control the circumstance because you're afraid God just wants to whack you and punish you. It's a wrong view of God. It's an unbiblical view of God, but it can control how we live. And most of us have gone through something like that, and Naomi has experienced that, and her heart is calloused at God. And so, rather than saying, let's go back to Israel, let's rejoice in the Lord, Let's forsake these foreign God's daughters. God will provide for you. She is bitter, exceedingly bitter at God because of the circumstances of her life. The book of Ruth has much to say about this, brothers and sisters, and it offers much help. Look back at chapter one, verse one. It says, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went down to sojourn. That's another contextual clue. Where's the Messiah going to come from? He's going to come from the line of Judah. That's already been prophesied. He's going to come from the line of Judah. Even these marriages that were not elicited In the law, it was forbidden to marry a Moabite wife. God uses this for good to bring forth the Messiah. And we'll get there in just a moment. But here's what's ironic. The book of Ruth was written much later than the actual events. The book of Ruth is a post-exilic writing. So after the people of Israel came back into the land, after the Babylonian captivity, is when the book of Ruth was written. And so there's irony here. Because David is long dead at this point for the people who would be reading the book of Ruth. And it's ironic because they know how this works out. They know what God was doing through Naomi and through Ruth and through Boaz, but Naomi couldn't see it because of her bitterness at God. And that's a practical application for us, brothers and sisters. When we allow ourselves to become bitter and angry at God, we deceive ourselves and blind ourselves from seeing what God is doing in us and in the world. And he is doing much. Even in the midst of a land of covenantal unfaithfulness, there is a man named Boaz who happens to be a relative of Naomi. Look at chapter two, verses one through three. Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him, in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, go, my daughter. So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and listen, and she happened She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. She just happened to stumble across the field of the man who was related to Naomi's husband, who happens to be a worthy man. God is working. providentially in all of this. Boaz, in the midst of a time of cultural unfaithfulness, he himself is faithful. He is a worthy man. His workers, in verse four, respond to him. In verse four, Boaz says to his workers, the Lord be with you. And they answered, the Lord bless you. The field belongs to the Lord. The work belongs to the Lord. The Lord is part of this. There's still someone in Israel who is remaining faithful to him. And he allows Ruth to reap the gleanings of the field. That's coming straight out of Leviticus. where the man who has a field is not to pick up all the gleanings and all the leftovers from the field. They were to reap it once and then not go back and get all the rest. They were to leave it for the poor people and for the sojourner. But in a time of covenantal unfaithfulness, many of the land owners weren't doing this. Let me get it all. Go back and get the gleanings. Get everything. But Boaz is faithful. to the law, and Ruth is able to glean in his field, and he protects her. Boaz protects her, and Yahweh uses Boaz to protect her. And the Lord sustains her, and guards her. And she says in verse 10 in chapter 2, Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in your eyes? that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner.' But Boaz answered her, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me. And how you left your father and mother and your native land, and came to a people that you did not know before, Yahweh repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Everything is Godward for Boaz. You've come to my field, Ruth, but you've really come to take refuge under the wings of Yahweh. I'll do you good, but Yahweh is gonna repay you for your faithfulness. For the fact that you left your foreign gods and your foreign land and came to Israel, the Lord will bless you. He will reward you. such a powerful truth to remain strong to and to cling to in times where you're going through difficult trials. The Lord will raise up good from this. The Lord will be faithful to His promises. If I follow Him, if I fall on my knees and worship Him, despite my problems, despite my hurt, despite the pain, He will bless me. If not in this life, abundantly in the next. We have an eternal hope, an eternal blessedness that in the midst of deep suffering we have to cling to. That was the only thing that gave me peace when my mom died unexpectedly. The only thing. Because I'm not superstitious. I don't believe people die and go be angels and fly over us and watch over us. The righteous go to be with Christ. and the dead go to be separated from Him in hell. And because of her faith in Jesus Christ, I believe she's reigning with Him now. That's what comforted me, the blessed assurance of the next life. And so brother, sister, I don't know the end of your trial. I don't know if the healing is going to come. I don't know if the wayward child is ever going to turn to the Lord. I can't promise you any of that. But what I can promise you is that those who look to Jesus Christ and cling to Him by faith will receive an eternal reward that so far abundantly surpasses anything that we could imagine in this life. And it is worth it. Cling to it. Fight for it. Look at chapter three. I'm ending quickly here. Verses one through five. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? 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. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.' And she replied, all that you say I will do." Now, I don't want to read too much into this, but Naomi could be trying to manipulate these circumstances in a perverse way. But Ruth will have none of it, and Boaz will have none of it. And if we walk through this narrative, we would see that the author takes great pains to show nothing ungodly happened at that threshing floor. Nothing ungodly happened. Boaz is a man of integrity. He's a man of honor. Ruth is a woman of honor. And Boaz says to her in verse 14, lay it. So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. And so Boaz goes out and he meets at the gate with the man, who is a closer relative, in order to tell him, hey, you can redeem Ruth, or you can redeem Elimelech's property, but in so doing, you redeem Ruth, the Moabite, and you have to raise up children for her in his place. And the man says, no, I'm not gonna do that. And Boaz redeems his land and his wife Ruth and brings her in and marries her. And here's what's most important about the book of Ruth. I love the book of Ruth. I love it. It's one of my favorite books in the Bible. It's not just a romance story. And it's not just a book about a virtuous woman, although it is. It's not just a book about, you know, kind things and virtue and loyalty, although it is. The main point of the book of Ruth is it shows us how we get David, the king. Chapter four. Verse 18, now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amenadab, Amenadab fathered Nation, Nation fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. The main purpose of the book of Ruth is that we get the genealogy of David. And guess where Ruth appears next in the Bible? Matthew chapter one, in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth is in there. God raised up the Savior through this awful situation. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. This is where we get the Lord Jesus. Can you see, brothers and sisters, in the midst of your most severe pain, in the midst of your most severe trials, can you step back and see, just like God raised up this situation that looks dire and horrible and tragic, and it was. There was really sin. There was really death. There was really famine. There was really pain. Naomi really experienced pain. Can you step back and see that through it all, God is using my affliction for His glory, His fame, and for my good? We can. We can, and the reason we can is because the Bible says, what? Romans 8, we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. for those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes. God chose to work through the most tragic situation in Israel. Covenantal unfaithfulness, oppression, famine, destruction, evil, tragedy, to bring a Moabite, a foreigner, into Israel. to marry Boaz, to bring forth a son, Obed, who would bring forth Jesse, who would bring forth David, who would be the king of Israel, and God would promise him, David, I'm gonna give you a son that will sit on your throne forever. And we see in Matthew chapter one that Jesus Christ is the Davidic Messiah, the son who has come to save Israel from its sins. That's what God does in the midst of trial. And so brothers and sisters, if you are wrestling with bitterness at God, the best place to be and the best thing to do is to humble yourself before the mighty God of the universe and say, Lord, I don't understand the circumstance. I don't fully understand what you are doing, but I believe, I choose to believe that you are working it for good. I will stand on this book. I will bring my feelings, my thoughts, my attitude into alignment with this word. And anything that is contrary, I will fight because I believe that your son reigns and that he has purchased for me an everlasting possession that I will receive. and that you will use this situation for your glory and honor. And if you are counseling someone in this situation, this is the counsel. Look to God. Look to Christ. Look to what He does in the world. Cling to Him. Trust in Him. Your days may be hard. You may experience brokenness. We will, brothers and sisters. But this isn't our home. and this isn't the end. Look to the next life and enjoy the one you're in, not because it's perfect, not because you have the greatest circumstances that you would wish for, but because Jesus Christ is on the throne and nothing will take him away from that. Cling to that, brothers and sisters. Amen, amen.