Moody Church Hour

Guest (Male): Hope, it's a wonderful thing. It gives us a reason to press through all the anguish of life to something beyond. Hope carries us through the darkness to the dawn. Often we try to move out of darkness on our own timeline, while God wants us to wait.

The book of Ruth teaches many lessons, as when Naomi gets frustrated waiting for God's plan to play out. Today we hear three warnings against manipulating the timeline of God's grace. From Chicago, welcome to The Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. Stay with us for a time of worship and teaching as our series continues on Mercies in the Shadows. We'll turn to Ruth chapter 3 to learn all about manipulating grace. 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're so glad you've joined us today as we continue our series through the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. And one of the things we tend to do when we're in trouble and we feel stuck in life is we can stop trusting in God and start doing things our own way.

We're going to look at what that looks like today in our story and the consequences that that come from that and why it's always a bad idea not to trust God and to go off on our own and do our own thing. So let's pray as we begin. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you that you provide us a way. A way of righteousness, a way of obedience, a way of faith. And even when that doesn't make sense to us and we second guess what you're doing or what you've called us to do. It is always right for us to walk in obedience even when we don't understand.

Father, would you help us trust you enough to obey even when we don't see why. Help us today in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Let's sing about the promises of God. Amen.

Singing: Standing on the promises that cannot fail when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail. By the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the spirit's call. Resting in my savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God. Amen, Amen, bless the Lord.

Through it all. Through it all. I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God. Through it all. Through it all. Oh I've learned to depend upon his word.

I thank God for the mountains and I thank him for the valleys. And I thank him for the storms he's brought me through. For if I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that God could solve them. I wouldn't know what faith in God could do.

Through it all, through it all. Through it all. Oh I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, through it all. Oh I've learned to depend upon his word. Through it all, sing with me.

Through it all. Through it all. Oh I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God. Through it all. Through it all. I have learned to depend upon his word. Oh, I have learned to depend upon his word. Oh, I have learned to depend upon his word.

What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Amen.

Guest (Male): Father, we come into your presence and we just pause to thank you for waking us up this morning. Thank you for the fresh grace that you give us with each 24 hours. We don't have to make any of the mistakes we made yesterday.

We thank you for the fresh hope that you give us every day and we thank you, Father, for the truth of the gospel. We could spend all of eternity thanking you for the things that you've done, but Father, we pause now to just thank you for who you are.

You're a great God, a powerful God, a magnificent God, the true God. And so we can come to you boldly as Jesus has commanded us to, to cast all our burdens before you, and we come.

Many are hurting now, Father. Some people are afraid. Some are frustrated and disappointed. Many have lost jobs. And they face tomorrow with an uncertainty that we have not experienced before.

So we come now and we ask you to comfort those that are afflicted. To enable those that would now stand. That you would fill Pastor Miller with your spirit this morning, that your word would go forth with power and authority, not that we would brag or boast, but that we might yet again bear witness to the truth of your word and the power that it has to transform lives. We pray.

In the matchless name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Savior and our King. And amen.

Guest (Female): Amen. Let us meditate on God's word this morning. A reading from Psalm 130.

Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. More than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. The Lord hears when we cry to him.

Let's wait on the Lord. We can wait for him for he keeps his promises with us.

Singing: Lord from the depths, I call to you. Lord hear me from on high. And give attention to my voice, when I for mercy cry.

Out of the depths I cry to you, in darkest places I will call. Incline your ear to me anew, and hear my cry for mercy, Lord. Were you to count my sinful ways, how could I come before your throne. Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze. I stand redeemed by grace, Lord.

I will wait for you, surely wait for you. On your word, I will rely. I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied.

So put your hope in God alone. Take courage in his power to save. Completely and forever whole, by Christ emerging from the grave. I will wait for you, I will wait for you. On your word, I will rely. I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied.

His steadfast love has made a way. And God himself has paid the price. That all who trust in him today, find healing in his sacrifice. I will wait for you, I will wait for you. On your word, I will rely. I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied. I will wait for you. I will wait for you. Through the storm and through the night. I will wait for you, surely wait for you. For your love is wide enough.

I wait, my soul waits for the Lord. My hope is in his word. More than the watchman waits for dawn. My soul waits for the Lord.

Guest (Male): Lord, give us patience as we wait and joy in the waiting, knowing that all your promises are coming true. We believe your word. We hope in your word alone in Jesus' name.

Singing: When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His word. What a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies. But His smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear. Can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet, we will sit at His feet. Or we'll walk by His side in the way. What He says we will do, where He sends we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey.

Pastor Philip Miller: Hope is a beautiful thing. It's the reason we press through all the hard things that life brings to us, all the pain, all the sorrow. It is the thing that keeps us going, doesn't it? Hope is what carries us through the darkness to the dawn.

And last week, we saw Naomi's heart began to beat with hope again for the first time in forever. It was nothing short of a miracle. This this woman who gave us her epitaph just a few verses before and said bitterness will be the story of my life. She has begun to hope again.

She's believing for the first time that her story isn't over, that God is still at work in her life, and that redemption is still possible even for her. And what was the trigger? It was the moment, if you remember, that Ruth came back with that overabundance of barley from her time of gleaning in the fields.

And Naomi realized, "This is way more barley than anyone should have been able to gather in a single day. Someone has been extraordinary in their kindness and grace toward Ruth." And then she learned his name. This is Boaz.

And Naomi's heart started beating again in a way that she had scarcely allowed herself to hope before because Boaz was one of her relatives, one of Elimelech's kinsmen, and he was what they called in Hebrew a potential goel. A goel means a redeemer or a rescuer. It's a technical Hebrew term that refers to the ancient Israelite practice of what is called levirate marriage. Levirate marriage was where in the case of a man who died leaving a woman widowed, who did not have an heir, it fell to the unmarried brother of the man who died to actually marry her, secure her family, her line, to father a child in the name of the family who would inherit the property.

It seems very strange to us this idea of levirate marriage, but in a world where property could only be passed down the male line, this was the way things were done. And if there wasn't a brother who could step in and fulfill this duty, it became a volunteer