Moody Church Hour

Pastor Philip Miller: Grief is messy. It leads us through a painful journey. The way out of the darkness is often found through the faithful love of someone who walks with us towards the dawn. In the story of Ruth, that kind of love is called Hesed. It means loving selflessness, enduring faithfulness and forbearing graciousness. God provided Hesed love in the story and he offers it to all of us too. From Chicago, welcome to the Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. Stay with us for a time of worship and teaching as we continue a series on Mercies in the Shadows. From Ruth Chapter 1, we will learn all about fellowship in suffering. Here now is Pastor Philip along with worship leader Tim Stafford and assistant Pastor Larry McCarthy.

Pastor Philip Miller: Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Moody Church. We are so glad you have joined us today. You know, we are not just a bunch of people gathered in a room or people listening online or by radio. We are the family of God, and we were made for relationships. And today, we are going to see how important those relationships are, because we get to show each other the covenant love and faithfulness of God. We get to experience the love that God has for us as we extend it one to another. And that is why community is so important. So, as we begin, would you pray with me? Let us pray together.

Pastor Philip Miller: Father, we thank you that you have made us for community. You said in the very beginning, it is not good for man to be alone. We need each other. And so, Father, help us to learn how to show your loving kindness to one another so that we might learn to trust you more in our lives. We pray this for Jesus sake. Amen.

Music: To you, oh Lord, I lift up my soul. In you I trust, oh my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. Show me your ways and teach me your paths. Guide me in truth, lead me on. For you are my God, you are my Savior. All my hope is in you each moment of the day. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. That is why my eyes are on you, oh Lord. Surround me, defend me, oh, how I need you. To you, I lift up my soul, to you, I lift up my soul.

Music: To you, oh Lord, I lift up my soul. In you I trust, oh my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. Show me your ways and teach me your paths. Guide me in truth, lead me on. For you are my God, you are my Savior. All my hope is in you each moment of the day. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. That is why my eyes are on you, oh Lord. Surround me, defend me, oh, how I need you. To you, I lift up my soul, to you, I lift up my soul.

Music: Remember, Lord, your mercy and love that ever flow from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, oh my rebellious ways. According to your love, remember me. According to your love. For you are good, oh Lord. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. That is why my eyes are on you, oh Lord. Surround me, defend me, oh, how I need you. To you, I lift up my soul, to you, I lift up my soul.

Music: No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. That is why my eyes are on you, oh Lord. Surround me, defend me, oh, how I need you. To you, I lift up my soul, to you, I lift up my soul.

Music: The grace of God has reached for me and pulled me from the raging sea. And I am safe on this solid ground. The Lord is my salvation. I will not fear when darkness falls. His strength will help me scale these walls. I will see the dawn of the rising sun. The Lord is my salvation. Who is like the Lord our God? Strong to save and holy in love. My Refuge and my redeeming one. The Lord is my salvation.

Music: My hope is living, oh my Lord. He calls his promise of his word. When winter fades, I know spring will prove. The Lord is my salvation. In times of waiting, times of need. When I am lost, when I am weak. I know his grace will renew his strength. The Lord is my salvation. Who is like the Lord our God? Strong to save and holy in love. My Refuge and my redeeming one. The Lord is my salvation.

Music: And when I reach my final day, he will not leave me in the grave. But I will rise, he will call me home. The Lord is my salvation. Who is like the Lord our God? Strong to save and holy in love. My Refuge and my redeeming one. The Lord is my salvation. Glory be to God, the Father. Glory be to God, the Son. Glory be to God, the Spirit. The Lord is my salvation. Glory be to God, the Father. Glory be to God, the Son. Glory be to God, the Spirit. The Lord is my salvation.

Music: Glory be to God, the Father. Glory be to God, the Son. Glory be to God, the Spirit. The Lord is my salvation. Glory be to God, the Father. Glory be to God, the Son. Glory be to God, the Spirit. The Lord is my salvation.

Music: He alone is sovereign over all the Earth. Who else would we run to if we have trouble? Why would we fail to trust him? The one of perfect wisdom. He is the one we are praying to today.

Music: The perfect wisdom of our God, revealed in all the universe. All things created by his hand, and held together at his command. He knows the mysteries of the seas, the secrets of the stars are his. He guides the planets on their way and turns the Earth through another day.

Music: The matchless wisdom of his ways that mark the path of righteousness. His word, a lamp unto my feet, his Spirit teaching and guiding me. And all the mystery of the cross, that God just suffered for the lost, so that the fool might shame the wise and all the glory might go to Christ.

Music: Oh, grant me wisdom from above to pray for peace and cling to love and teach me humbly to receive the sun and rain of your sovereignty. Each strand of sorrow has a place within this tapestry of grace. So, through the trials, I choose to say your perfect will in your perfect way. Each strand of sorrow has a place within this tapestry of grace. So, through the trials, I choose to say your perfect will in your perfect way.

Music: Lord, help us as we pray this morning, that whether it is rain or sunshine, we trust your sovereign plan for us. Help us to pray to you and come to you with that in mind. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Pastor Philip Miller: Father, we come into your presence, and we have been singing this morning about hope. And you are a living hope. And for those who know you, that is so much more than a wish. Our hope is the confident expectation that you will keep your word. The confident expectation that you will keep your promises. And our hope is anchored on your faithfulness. As we come into your presence, Father, we are aware of the fact that you have kept every promise you have ever made. And you have never made a promise you could not keep. You have been faithful from age to age. And so, we come into your presence acknowledging that our hope is in you. You promised us you would never leave us or forsake us. And we thank you, Father. You promised us that you would provide grace sufficient for us to bear. And we thank you, Father. Feed us this morning. Meet our needs as only you can, and find us ever quick to give you the honor, to give you the praise, to give you the credit, to give you the glory. Now, we pray in the matchless name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Savior and our King. And amen.

Pastor Philip Miller: Just stand, let us cling to Christ today, not all these other things that are passing away.

Music: My worth is not in what I own, not in the strength of flesh and bone. But in the costly wounds of love at the cross. My worth is not in skill or name. In win or lose, in pride or shame. But in the love of Christ alone at the cross. I rejoice in my Redeemer. Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him, no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone.

Music: To wonders here that I confess, my worth and my unworthiness. My value fixed, my ransom paid at the cross. I rejoice in my Redeemer. Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him, no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone.

Music: I rejoice in my Redeemer. Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him, no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone. I rejoice in my Redeemer. Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him, no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone.

Pastor Philip Miller: Set your heart today. Let us thank the Lord.

Pastor Philip Miller: Amen.

Pastor Philip Miller: Well, good morning, Moody Church. It is great to see all of you. We are jumping back into our series today, Mercies in the Shadows, as we look at the book of Ruth, this 3,000-year-old story found in the Old Testament. It is a story that is dominated by tragic loss and sorrow and grief. Last week, if you will remember, if you were with us, we saw Naomi's life completely unravel. She lost her husband, her two adult sons, and that not only meant that she had to stand by three different grave sides and mourn their loss, it also meant in her ancient near Eastern patriarchal world that she lost a lot of things. She lost her income. There was no one to work the fields. She lost her legal representation in society. She lost her ability to inherit property which was only passed down through the male line. And so, Naomi's life has been dominated now with, with no hope, no future, and she has nowhere to turn. This is grief upon grief upon grief. And if you know anything about grief, many of us do, you will know that grief is a very painful journey, is it not? In 1969, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, in her definitive book on Death and Dying, introduced us to what is now been popularly known as the five stages of grief. That grief is, it is not a linear process, it is a patched-up mess of emotions, but it has five discrete elements. There is denial, this cannot be happening. There is anger, I do not like this, who do I blame? There is bargaining, manipulating, trying to regain control. There is depression, I am just too sad to do anything. And then finally, eventually, after a long last, there is acceptance, and peaceful resignation to the new reality and embracing that and going forward. Now, in the book of Ruth here, we are going to watch Naomi in particular as she moves through these stages of grief. And we are going to see her in throughout this book crying, and then at other times angry and bitter and lashing out and depressed, and eventually coming to see hope in the midst of her circumstances. But grief is a messy thing, is it not? We are all over the place. And one of the things we most need in the midst of our grief is someone to love us through it. Who will not quit on us, no matter how messy or hard it gets, especially when it is messy or hard. Someone who loves us enough to go the distance, to see us through all of the drama of what we will go through. To stay close to us and love us through to the other side. To see us at our absolute worst and love us still the same. There is a special Hebrew word for this kind of love, and it is Hesed. Hesed. Would you just say that with me? It is a crazy word, it is in the back of the throat. Hesed. Hesed. Yes. Hesed is, there is no English equivalent for this word, but it is the combination of two concepts, love and loyalty. Love and loyalty together. It is often translated loving kindness or covenant faithfulness. It is the love not just of the emotions, but of the will, a choosing, devoted, committed love, a a commitment to the well-being of the object of our affections. This is the kind of love that God has for his people. It is a Hesed love. Exodus 34 verse 6 famously says God is speaking, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, that is our word, Hesed, and faithfulness. This concept of Hesed is paraphrased by Sally Lloyd-Jones in her Jesus Storybook Bible, which is one of my favorite books in the whole world. My kids love it, and I think every adult should read it. But she paraphrases this kind of love this way, it is the never-stopping, never-giving-up, unbreaking, always and forever love of God. Hesed is not just the kind of love that God extends to us, it is also the kind of love that God calls us to extend to each other. And in the passage that we are going to look at today, we are going to see this kind of Hesed love in action. And it will help us learn what Hesed is and it will help us learn how to become people of Hesed for one another. So, if you have your Bibles with you, would you open them up this morning to Ruth Chapter 1? We are going to be looking at verses 6 to 22. Ruth Chapter 1 verses 6 to 22. Let me pray for us as we turn now to God's word. Heavenly Father, we pray now that you would be our teacher. That you would guide us into life, teach us to love as you have loved us, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word now as we turn to it. This is Ruth Chapter 1 verse 6. Then she arose, this is Naomi, then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So, she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Now, what we are going to do this morning, just pause there for a second. I want to kind of show you three glimpses of Hesed this morning. First through Naomi, then through Ruth, and then through the Lord God himself. Okay? So, this is Naomi's Hesed here in these first verses. As we saw last week, this is the first glimmer of hope in the story. Naomi, she hears this rumor that the Lord God has been faithful to his covenant, that he had visited his people, and there is, the famine is over, the rains have come, the crops have been raised, there is food once again in her homeland. And Naomi returns home. Nothing had gone right in Moab, and hopefully it will be better back in her homeland. And as we saw last week, this is not just an immigration plan, this is a journey of faith. She is returning to her homeland, to the land of promise. She is coming back into the covenant land of God. She is throwing herself in hope upon who God is for her. She is coming back under the shelter of his wings. This is not just geographical relocation, this is spiritual relocation as well. Now, she sets out with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. And according to ancient near Eastern customs, these two ladies are now functionally Naomi's servants. As the matriarch of the family unit, they were at her disposal. But somewhere along the line, she has second thoughts. And so, here in verse 8, the text continues. But Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. Now, I do not know if you, you see it, but do you realize what Naomi is doing here? She is setting her daughters-in-law free. She is relinquishing them of any obligation to serve her or continue to live with her and help out around the house. She is sending them back to their, to their homes in order that they might remarry and rebuild their lives. She does not have to do this. According to the ancient near Eastern customs, she could have made them come along, made them help set up a new home, help with all the chores, help with whatever tasks and provision were required for their family unit. Um, this was her prerogative. But instead of, this is amazing to me, instead of allowing her grief to turn her inward and orient herself toward a selfish sort of posture here. Naomi puts their interest ahead of her own, and and lays down all her rights and privileges here. She sets them free, she sacrifices herself, and she resigns herself to a life of isolation and loneliness in order to love Orpah and Ruth. She says, "May the Lord deal kindly with you." That is our word, Hesed, right here. May the Lord have Hesed towards you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. As you have shown me Hesed and my family Hesed by your choosing to become a part of our family and love us, may now God in turn show you such love and loyalty, Hesed as you go on into your lives. May the Lord bless you and extend his loving kindness to you so that you may find rest, peace, security in a new home with a new husband and a new life. She is releasing them, sacrificing her own needs to give them a chance at life. And as she prays that the Lord would show them Hesed, she herself shows them Hesed as well. And so, here is the first thing we realize about Hesed. Hesed is loving selflessness. Hesed is loving selflessness. It is a willingness to lay down our own interests in the service of others. Remember that great theologian, Olaf, the snowman from Frozen? Remember how he defined love? He said, "Love is putting someone else's needs before yours." That is pretty biblical, is it not? In other words, Hesed is a costly love. It is a sacrificial love, it is a committed love. There is a price to be paid. Hesed promises, "I will give myself for you. I will give myself for you." You know, everyone enjoys love when it is reciprocal, don't we? You know, I will scratch your back if you scratch mine. And honestly, that is how a lot of our relationships are. I will love you as long as you love me back. There is reciprocity. But don't you see, Hesed love does not demand reciprocity. It is a loving, sacrificial, self-giving love without expecting anything in return. It is a self-giving love, a dying to self love. It is Hesed love. So, that is Naomi's Hesed. Now, Ruth's Hesed. Naomi is trying to set them free, and in verse 10, they, they will not have anything to do with it. Look at verse 10. And they said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people." But Naomi said, "Go, turn back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 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 bear sons, would you therefore wait around 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." Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. So, Naomi here is making the case for why they should go home, find new husbands, and move on with their lives. She says, "Look, I am not having any more sons here. It is not happening. And even if I were to miraculously remarry and miraculously conceive and they miraculously were twins and they both miraculously were sons, you are not going to wait around 20 years to marry them." She is referring to this whole idea of levirate marriage, that if a son died and uh, left his bride without a child, that a brother, an unmarried brother was required by law to marry the widow so as to provide an heir. It was a weird sort of social security safety net in those days. Um, that is not happening, that is Naomi's point. She is playing out this absurd scenario to point out the helplessness of the life that they would be committing themselves to. To come with Naomi is to embrace a life without hope and a future. Only destitution and death await. Naomi says, "No, you are better off on your own. Don't bind yourself to my fate. God is against me. We have all suffered enough. Go home, be done with this." Verse 14. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. Return and go after your sister-in-law." So, Orpah heads out. We cannot blame her for this. But Ruth here will not let go. And so, Naomi renews her appeal with pure pressure this time, and says, "Look, Orpah has made the reasonable choice here. She has seen the bitterness of my life. She is going back to her people, to her land, to her family, to all that she knows. She is going back to her gods. And I do not blame her," Naomi would say, "After what God has done to me. Ruth, you really should do the same thing. It is the only rational thing to do." But verse 16. Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or return from following you. For where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more if anything but death parts me from you." And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. This is such a powerful, gripping, beautiful scene, is it not? Do you realize what Ruth is doing? She is burning her passport. She is saying, "I am never going to go back." She is giving up her homeland, her people, her security, her freedom, her hope of remarriage, her hope of children and family. She is choosing to be an exile, a foreigner. She is binding herself to Naomi's fate, to destitution and hopelessness. She is giving up all of her dreams to lovingly care for her mother-in-law for the rest of her life. And it is amazing here. She even goes beyond our marriage vows. We do not promise what Ruth promises here. When we get married, we say till death do us part. Ruth says, "I am not even going to part you after death. I will be buried next to you." This is loyalty long after Naomi dies. My loyal love will remain. And Ruth is also, not only loving Naomi here, she is declaring faith and trust in the Lord God of Israel, is not she? She is throwing herself on his mercies. She is taking shelter under his wings. Instead of running back to her Moabite gods, she is turning to the Hesed love of the Lord God, the covenant keeping one. And she is extending Hesed to Naomi, don't you see that? And Hesed, we see here is, is enduring faithfulness. It is another angle on Hesed, enduring faithfulness. Ruth says, "I am with you now and forever." I am binding myself to you. I am all in for all time. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you. She says, "It is an oath, it is a promise, it is a covenant commitment she is making here." And what I think is so beautiful is that in grief we often try to isolate, don't we? We push people away and we just try to get alone. And God will not let that happen here, and neither will Ruth. They are running to Naomi in, in her grief here. Because Hesed promises, "I will be there with you." I will be there with you. This is remarkable love. Courageous love, loyal love. I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you. I will be with you always. Now let us look at God's Hesed in this story. Let us look at verse 19 here. So, the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?" Cannot you see them just muttering to one another? Is this Naomi? Can it be her? I mean, it looks like her, that that seems like it is, it is her, but her face, it is so lined and and and she looks like she is aged 30 years. She has only been gone a decade. Life must have been hard on her. And where is Elimelech? And where is those two little boys? Naomi, is that you? Verse 20. She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. 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?" Cannot you feel her anguish here? Her bitter tears, the pain in her broken heart. She is back among lifelong friends, and she has been strong for so long, but in the moment where she sees people from her former life, she cannot keep it in any longer, and out of the overflow of her heart, the mouth speaks here. She says, "Don't call me Naomi. Don't you dare call me Naomi. Call me Mara, which means bitter. For the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I was full, and now I have come back empty." This is kind of a hurtful statement. I mean, Ruth is standing right there. She is not empty. But she does not even count Ruth. These are stinging and hurtful comments, but friends, that is, that is what happens. In grief, we say things we will regret later, don't we? She says, "Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me?" I showed up in court, and God was on the opposition. He was, he was the attorney that sent me down. He brought calamity on my life. He sentenced me to bitterness and this death. It is all God's fault. Don't you dare call me Naomi. Call me Mara, bitterness. That is all that is left here. Friends, Naomi is lashing out against God, is not she? The the the agony in her soul finally just bursts here. The dam breaks, the boil is lanced, and what pours out is raw and ugly and bitter. These are harsh words that she has for God. She rails against him with bitterness and disbelief and blame. And yet, she is coming home. She is coming home. Underneath the bitterness, there is, there is still a little bit of faith down there. A tiny bit of trust, a fool's hope, a mustard seed of faith, but as it turns out, it will be enough. It will be enough. Verse 22. So, Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. I love that this last line just hangs there. It was the beginning of barley harvest. They came at the beginning when the crops came in at the turning of the tide at the dawn of a new era when mercies were on their way. It is a poetic, artistic way of reminding us that God's kindness, his covenant faithfulness, his loyal love, his Hesed is on the move. The harvest means God is faithful. He is keeping his covenant of love to a 1,000 generations, and this story is not over. And so, we see, friends, that Hesed is forbearing graciousness. Hesed is forbearing graciousness. I am amazed here that God allows Naomi to vent at him like this, are not you? And not only does God put up with this, he is going to, in response, move toward her in grace and kindness and love. She throws up this wall of bitterness and grief and blame at God. And he is so patient, and so kind, and so gracious, and so forbearing, and so gentle, and so understanding of her suffering, and so compassionate toward her pain. And Hesed promises, friends, "I will extend kindness to you. I will extend kindness to you." And not only is God going to move toward Naomi in Hesed loving kindness, he uses Ruth here to show Naomi the very kind of love that he has for her. Do you realize in this moment, Ruth is incarnating, taking and showing, modeling in flesh, the Hesed love of God that he has for Naomi. Naomi has almost given up hope in the Hesed love of her God. She does not really believe it is a thing. But God says, "Okay, then let me soften your heart by showing you my love through Ruth so that you will begin to trust me again." How tender is this? And here is where it gets really real for us, friends. Hesed is not just the love that God extends to us. It is the love he calls us to extend to one another. So, here is the takeaway. We incarnate Hesed for one another because Jesus incarnated Hesed for us. We incarnate Hesed for one another because Jesus incarnated Hesed for us. Now, how are we ever to become people of Hesed love like this? Now, let me tell you how it is not going to happen. It is not going to happen by trying really, really, really hard. It is not going to happen by looking at Ruth or Jesus and saying, "I will do my best to copy their example." That is just going to demoralize us at the end of the day. First John 4 verse 19 says this, "We love because he first loved us." We love because he first loved us. Friends, the way we become people of love is when we receive and allow the love of God to change us out from the inside. When when we realize that Jesus came for us, that he pledged his life to us, that he laid down his life for us, that in loving sacrifice, he he laid down himself. He said, "I will give myself for you." That in enduring faithfulness, he bound himself to us and said, "I will be there with you." When we realize that in forbearing graciousness, he looks upon us sinners and says, "I will extend kindness to you." When we realize that Jesus incarnated Hesed for us, to redeem us and rescue us and cleanse us and forgive us, when that sinks in and that melts us out from the inside, do you realize we get to the point where we say, "How can we not love others as we have first been loved by God himself?" When we drink deeply of God's Hesed love for us, friends, it changes us and it makes us into people who extend Hesed to others. I heard a story a few years ago of a husband and wife who had been married for like 20 years, and the husband was in an accident and uh, broke his neck and he became a paralytic from the neck down, quadriplegic. And as he was in recovery, they had their 20th wedding anniversary, and he said to his wife, "I sure wish we could go out on a date." And so, she decided that was a good idea. And so, she came over and she shaved his face. She gave him a little sponge bath. She brushed his teeth and combed his hair. Uh, she got him all dressed up, which was not easy, quite a project. And then she went and got herself ready for bed and they had a little board that they used to slide him out of the bed into his wheelchair. And so, she got the board and slid him over, and then she pushed him to the car, and uh, she backed the car out of the garage and took the board and slid him from his chair into the passenger seat, and folded up the chair and put it in the trunk, and put the plank in there, and went around and drove him to the restaurant. When they got to the restaurant, she got the chair and the plank out, and slid him back out and into the chair and wheeled him into the restaurant, um, up to the table where they sat. She spoon fed him, and fork fed him every bite of his meal. Helped him drink out of a straw when he needed to drink. And they talked, and they had their meal. When the check came, she paid the bill, and then she went and pulled the car around, and uh, wheeled him out and took the plank and slid him back out and into the chair, and wheeled him into the house, and got to the house, and got the plank and slid him back out into his chair, and wheeled the chair into the bedroom, and put the plank down and slid him back into the bed. She parked the car in the garage. She came and helped him get ready for bed, brushed his teeth, got him all tucked in. She went back and finished and got herself ready for bed and turned out the lights and climbed into bed next to him and said, "Thanks for taking me out on a date." Friends, that is Hesed love. It is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It does not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Hesed never fails. That, my friends, is the kind of love that we need, is not it? And it is the kind of love God uses us to show to others. It is the kind of love that fetches us out of the despair and the darkness of our souls and gives us hope. And it is love that is real. Is grounded in the triune love of God for his people. Are not you so glad for the Hesed love of our God? Let us pray. Oh, Father, sometimes we are overwhelmed by your love. That you would move toward us with such grace and compassion, kindness and faithfulness. Father, we are so fickle. We are so doubting. We are so prone to wander. We trust our own instincts, we wander away. But your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness and kindness to your people, not just for us, but to a thousand generations. Oh, Father, may we rest in, drink deeply from, and extend through our lives this Hesed love. Teach us, change us, wash over, melt us, we pray in the beautiful name of Jesus, our Hesed faithful God. Amen. Amen.

Pastor Philip Miller: On today's Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller teaching on fellowship in suffering. Sermon number two in a series on Mercies in the Shadows. In her story, Ruth experienced some powerful realities. One of them was the power of justice, wherein we become conduits of mercy. Next time, join us for Merciful Justice. Something Ruth experienced that helped her move forward even as she was grieving. Two contemporaries, two gospels, two tombstones, one choice. Karl Marx and D.L. Moody, the contrast between these men could not be greater. Marx and Moody is a book co-authored by Erwin Lutzer and Greg Quiggle, a book drawing a sharp distinction between two opposing worldviews. This book will be sent as our thank you for your gift of any amount to support the Moody Church Hour. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001. That is 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to MoodyChurchHour.com. That is MoodyChurchHour.com. Or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about Marx and Moody when you write or call. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller and the congregation of historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of the Moody Church.