Introduction.

1. Christians are the most privileged people on the face of the earth because they know the only true and living God. Every other god worshipped by every other religion worships a god or gods that have their origin in the imagination of men. Some may take the true revelation of God in the Bible and subjected it to their own wisdom and imagination and create a god rejecting qualities that they find offensive and adding qualities that they find missing. Some have invented gods who are only love and void of wrath and justice. Others have invented gods who are tyrants filled with wrath and void of grace. Our God has revealed himself in his Word, our thoughts of him must be according to his Word, nothing added and nothing subtracted. In theology we talk about God being inscrutable which means God is far greater than all we can comprehend and understand. As Thomas Brooks says, ‘There is infinitely more to God than the tongues of men or angels can express.' Perhaps changing a word in the third verse of F.M Lehman's hymn "The love of God" could be used to expresses this truth.
   
    "Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made.
   Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
   To write the greatness of God above, would drain the oceans dry
   Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky."
   
   Our God is great and glorious beyond human comprehension; simply because we are finite and he is infinite. As Christians we rejoice in knowing God, even though we cannot fathom him.
   
   
2. While it is true that we will never fully comprehend God we are nevertheless called to grasp, understand, enjoy and declare everything God has revealed about himself. If you were asked, ‘What is your God like?' How would you answer? Listen to an answer given by J Gresham Machen, ‘God is the most obligated being that there is. He is obligated by his own nature. He is infinite in his wisdom; therefore he can never do anything that is unwise. He is infinite in his justice; therefore he can never do anything that is unjust. He is infinite in his goodness; therefore he can never do anything that is not good. He is infinite in his truth therefore it is impossible that he should lie.' This is a very profound answer as it directs our thinking along the lines of what God will and will not do which provides the framework in which mankind's experience of God is to be understood. To God's infinite wisdom, justice, goodness, and truth that Machen lists in his answer we can add God's infinite holiness, grace, mercy, love, faithfulness, sovereignty, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience and immutability. These great and glorious truths wonderful as they are remain very abstract unless they are revealed in the actions of God. The Psalmists speak about the wonderful deeds of God to men in order to encourage believers to praise the Lord. Listen to Psalm 145:4-9, 'One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendour of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works' God's mighty acts, wondrous works and awesome acts all reveal the character of God, they translate his characteristics from abstract qualities to practical realities that glorify God. God's action in sending Jesus Christ to give himself as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of his people confirms the declarations that God is a God of holiness, justice, grace, mercy and love. You ought to look for and think about the working of God in your everyday life and rejoice in experiencing God as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures.
   
   
3. Ruth came to believe in the LORD because she was elected to belong to the only true and living God before the foundation of the world. Everything Ruth knew about the LORD was told to her by her late husband, Chilion and Naomi her mother-in-law. Naomi might have been spiritually backslidden and filled with bitterness but she knew the LORD and his mighty and awesome acts. Ruth would have heard that the LORD was a powerful God who loved his people and with a mighty hand brought them out of the land of Egypt and gave them the land he promised to Abraham. From Naomi she would have learnt the Ten Commandments and other laws given by Lord through Moses. Ruth, returning to Bethlehem with Naomi was going to learn a great deal about the LORD as she lived among his people.

1.  God revealed himself as the LORD who blesses his people.

1. Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem because she had heard that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread. (Ruth 1:6) Ruth would have heard this report and taken it to heart. I know it is very obvious, but we do need to note what Ruth heard and did not hear. Ruth heard that the reason there was bread in Bethlehem was because the Lord had visited his people, she did not hear that the drought had broken and that the harvests were good. What Ruth heard was that God was very active and involved in the lives of his people. The Lord's people depended upon him to supply their daily bread; they were not the victims of seasonal change which occurred at random. The Lord's people do not live in a world that is governed by chance, but in a world were everything happens according to the will and purpose of God. The Lord's people, among whom Ruth had gone to live, thought and spoke about God being intimately and comprehensively involved in their lives.
   
   
2. Jehovah's involvement was not an abstract theory used for religious purposes, but a daily reality that the Lord's people enjoyed in their everyday lives. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that a man is as he thinks in his heart. The way we think should regulate the way we speak about life in general. In the world today we speak in a way that is politically correct or in a way that does not offend other people. I believe that we not only speak in a politically correct manner, but also think in a way that is politically correct. If I asked you, ‘What is the date today?' You would tell me February 19^th 2006, the fact that it is the year of our Lord 2006 would not have crossed your mind. If I asked you, ‘What day of the week is it?' Would you answer Sunday but think the Lord's Day? When we farewell each other today will you say goodbye, and give any thought to the fact that goodbye is the shortened form of God bless you? Being politically correct in the way you speak does involve cutting out all references to the Lord, it involves speaking as if the Lord does not exist. The world has got us speaking in a way that does not offend its continual unbelief in the Lord. If we speak in a way that disconnects the Lord's involvement from the routine matters of life, then it is easy to disconnect the Lord's involvement in the routine matters of life in our thinking. In your thinking do you automatically connect the activity of the Lord with the food you eat, the home you live in, the clothes you wear, the safety of travel, the health you enjoy, your daily accomplishments etc, etc? Notice I asked if these connections happen automatically, which means without stopping to think about it. Do you live your daily life as an ongoing interaction with the Lord, seeing his hand at work continuously, or only think about the Lord when you stop to do your devotions? Do you remember the chorus ‘He lives'? The words are: ‘He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and He talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart.' If he lives in your heart you should continually be aware of his presence. Ruth heard that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread. Ruth not only heard that the Lord had visited his people, but she also saw the result of the Lord's visit. In Ruth 1:22 we are told that she and Naomi arrived at the beginning of the barely harvest. As they walked into Bethlehem the evidence of God's visitation was clear to see. Do you see the Lord's blessing in your daily life, and do you praise the Lord for his works? We need to examine the way we think and speak and give glory to God for his daily goodness towards us.

2. God revealed himself as the LORD who cares by the laws he made.

1. The Law of God was given not primarily as a moral code, but as a reflection of God's character. When we describe a person as being godly we mean that, that person is like God. You cannot use the term godly for a person who does not keep the law of God. For you to be Christlike, means obeying his commandments and following his example. Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48 teaches believers to love their enemies and concludes with this exhortation, ‘Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.' A godly man by the way he lives shows the world what God is like. When the Lord's people live according to his commands they reflect the character of their Lord. The Law of God is comprehensive and covers every aspect of life; therefore it is designed to produce a very specific way of life. As the lifestyle of the children of Israel was to show the world the character of the God they worshipped so the lifestyle of Christians is to witness to the world the greatness of the Saviour. Part of glorifying God is to live your life in such a way that others see the truth about God in you.
   
   
2. One of the laws of God that touched Ruth's life after settling in Bethlehem is found in Leviticus 19:9-10, ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.'  Why should landowners leave the corners and the gleanings of the harvest for the poor? The motivation given in the command is I am the Lord your God. The full covenant name of God is used indicating that the kindness shown in this behaviour matches the kindness found in the God of the covenant. We find the same kind of motivation is the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer, and forgive us our sins even we forgive those who sin against us. Our willingness to forgive others is based on the great forgiveness we have received from the Lord. This law was made to reveal that God cares about the poor and defenceless. As David Atkinson says, ‘Ruth also realised that this provision in the law was a generous provision, a mark of grace which goes beyond personal rights in property ownership. She knew that though it was mandatory for the owner to leave something for the poor, it was perfectly possible for unscrupulous landowners to make life difficult for the gleaners.' Because God cares for the poor and needy he proclaimed laws that would reflect his mercy and grace. The way we think about the poor needs to be regulated by the character of God. Matthew Henry says, ‘That we must be well pleased to see the poor supplied and refreshed with the fruit of our labours. We must not think every thing lost that goes beside ourselves, nor any thing wasted that goes to the poor.'    
   
   
3. Boaz not only accepted the letter of this law, but also expressed the spirit of the law by his attitude towards Ruth. Listen again to Ruth 2:8-10, Then Boaz said to Ruth, "You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn." So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favour in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"' Ruth's response to Boaz' care, concern, and kindness is one of surprise and gratitude. What Boaz did is exactly what Deuteronomy 10:19 requires of the Lord's people, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ruth was a foreigner and Boaz knew that the Lord required him to show love towards her. The obedience of Boaz to God's law would have communicated to Ruth that Jehovah cares for the poor. Jesus in Matthew 25:34-40 uses a parable to teach about the day of Judgement, he says; Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ^When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' God does not change he still cares about the poor and his laws still reveal this fact.

3. God revealed himself as the Lord who knows the desires of his people.

1. When Ruth leaves Naomi to go and glean in the fields she says, "Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favour." The desire of Ruth was to find favour in the eyes of the landowner so that she could glean after the reapers and not be harassed. When Ruth finds favour in Boaz' sight her surprise is obvious. In Psalm 145:19a David says; ‘He (the Lord) will fulfil the desires of those who fear Him.' The Lord knew the desire that was in Ruth's heart and in his grace and mercy moved the heart of Boaz to look upon Ruth with favour. The Lord did the same for Joseph when he was in prison in Egypt. Listen to Genesis 39:21, ‘But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.' The way others respond towards us does not depend upon them, but upon the way the Lord moves their hearts.
   
   
2. The Lord knew the desire of Ruth's heart and fulfilled that desire. I believe that if Ruth had prayed specifically, asking the Lord to grant her favour in the eyes of the landowner the Scriptures would have recorded that fact. The Lord knew this was Ruth's desire even though she did not articulate it in her prayers and in his mercy met her need. The Lord often gives us the desire of our hearts simple because he is generous and benevolent towards his children; he delights in blessing his children. Any thoughts of God being mean and slow to bless his children need to be removed from our minds as they are an insult to our God who is abundantly generous. In Psalm 84:11 we are told, ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.' Our heavenly Father will not withhold the good things that we need, he is gracious and generous. Ruth experiences the Lord as gracious and generous giving her the desire of her heart.
   
   
3. It is interesting to note that the word translated favour is the same Hebrew word that is used of the grace of God. It is the word used in Genesis 6:8 which says, ‘But, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.' The word is full of the idea of unmerited favour which reveals itself in kindness and mercy. Ruth was a person in need of grace, she depended upon the grace of others in order to provide daily bread for herself and Naomi, Boaz was the gracious provider who showed her kindness. Boaz did not only follow the dictates of God's law, but showed her kindnesses that a foreigner did not deserve. As the children of God there is wonderful comfort in knowing that the wicked are not free to deal with us according to the evil that is in their hearts or as Satan suggests, but are restrained and restricted by our Lord's will. Ruth desired to find favour in the eyes of the landowner so that she could glean in safety. The Lord knew her desire and fulfilled it in his mercy.

Conclusion.

God is wonderfully involved in every aspect of your life; he is always at work in you and those around you. You and I need to learn to recognise the work of his hand and train our minds to realise his continual presences with us. Knowing God is with you and seeing the work of his hand is a large part of enjoying God in our everyday lives. Commit yourself this week to deliberately look for the activity of God in the small things. If you see the hand of God in the small things you will not miss his work in the bigger things. If God is your God enjoy him, and his involvement in your daily life, find comfort in the glorious and wonderful character of God.