Sunday Service May 17, 2026 Sermon Providence in the Grain

Do you see what God said about himself? The first thing he says about himself is that he is merciful. That's what Naomi is referring to in the second chapter of Ruth. God whose kindness has said his mercy has not forsaken the living. The living are Ruth and Naomi and they're back in Bethlehem. The living or the dead. The dead were Elimelech and Mollen and Kilian, their sons. She is saying that God is working in this situation even though my husband and my two sons are dead, God is still using that situation to bring about his kindness and his mercy for us. That's what God does. [00:38:54] (58 seconds)  #GodIsMerciful

Remember what Ruth said to Naomi, your God shall be my God. She was forsaking Molech and the other gods of the Moab, and she was placing herself under the control and in the worship of the god of Israel. The god under whose wings By transferring her spiritual allegiance from the old gods to the true God, Ruth was claiming Yahweh as her divine patron and protector. And God was using Boaz as his instrument to bring about his will. Boaz was available to the Lord. He was available to be used and he begins to be used in his graciousness to Ruth. [00:29:55] (58 seconds)  #RuthChoosesGod

When we used to travel when our five kids were were young and we'd be traveling, driving long distance or something, Janet would engage them in in a game of I spy. You know how it goes. You'd say, I spy something red or whatever, and you had a particular thing in mind and the kids would have to guess until they found the particular red thing that was that that she was saying that she inspired. Well, what I wanna do today is we look at chapter two of Ruth. We and we could have done it for chapter one as well, but what I want us to do today is to play I spy and see how often we can spy God in this passage. [00:08:14] (47 seconds)  #SpyGodInRuth

Now let me assure you, she did not throw herself down on my threshing floor. I had to work hard for that girl. But I I still to this day believe that was the primary reason God was getting me in the right place at the right time because she was gonna come to seminary where I was and we would meet. Now last Tuesday Wednesday, we celebrated forty seven years of marriage. I share that just simply to say, and and you probably have your own story. It is so obvious at times we can spy God at work in our lives just as he was in the life of Ruth here. Back to our passage, verse four. [00:21:57] (50 seconds)  #GodInOurStories

Whose wife is she or or to what clan does she belong? So that that shows us these first few verses of chapter two. In that, we see the province of of God bringing Ruth to Boaz's field, bringing Boaz there on the same day, bringing them together. Next, we're gonna see the provision of God beginning in verse eight. Then Boaz said to Ruth, now listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you're thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. Notice how gracious Boaz is being to Ruth. One writer said, he's instituting the first anti sexual harassment policy in the workplace here, telling the young men, now don't touch this young woman. We know that she's single without a husband, but you leave her alone. [00:26:58] (67 seconds)  #BoazProtectedHer

we're not surprised at all. The author's already told us in verse one that Boaz is involved in this story, and now we see God moving. God is letting us know that this was no mere chance. Her coming to this field and Boaz coming to the field on the very day first day that she comes to the field. This is God, the one who brought Naomi and Ruth to Bethlehem has now guided her not only to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, but has now guided her to the field of Boaz, one of their kinsmen redeemers. And we'll talk a lot more about that later on. Remember what we've said all along about what God is doing in this book. God is getting Ruth in the right place at the right time with the right heart. Just like I mentioned this last week, just like he did Mary and Joseph, [00:16:21] (62 seconds)  #GodGuidesRuth

One thing I want you to see here is the change of heart in Naomi. Back in chapter one, remember when she came back and the women said called her Naomi, which means pleasant. And she said in verse 20 of chapter one, do not call me Naomi pleasant, call me Mara bitter 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? She is a broken, bitter woman. But now in chapter two, she's talking about the kindness, the mercy. That word could be translated loving, the loving kindness of God. Notice how her heart has changed. Again, I spy God there. [00:40:57] (58 seconds)  #FromBitterToBlessed

But the women would come along after them because as the men were pulling and cutting these wheat stalks and putting them into bundles, inevitably, some of the grain from those stalks would fall onto the ground. And so these women were coming in behind him and literally picking up the small seeds of grain and putting that into their sacks. That was gleaning. They were not taking the stalks. They were not taking from the sheaves themselves. They were picking up the grain the the the pieces of grain on the ground. God had prepared a way to provide for those who did not have the means to to provide for themselves here in the book of Ruth. Now notice verses three and four. [00:13:59] (50 seconds)  #GleaningForProvision