HOPE, DESPAIR, AND A FAITHFUL GOD

A Glimmer of Hope in the Midst of Despair

The Lord had visited His people and kept His promise.

See Deuteronomy 30:1-10...

Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”

See Matthew 6:31-34...

When Grief Clouds Our Thinking

What was Naomi’s reason for sending Ruth and Orpah back to their families? Was her reasoning solid? What was she talking about in reference to not having other sons to marry Ruth and Orpah?

See Deuteronomy 25:5-10...

See Genesis 38:1-11...

See Matthew 22:23-33...

There was clearly a deep love between these three ladies. Was it the right thing for Naomi to send them back? Was it the right thing for Orpah to go? Was it likely that the Lord would deal kindly with them if they went back to Chemosh worship?

Proverbs 15:16 “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it.”

Psalm 73:25–26 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

See Habakkuk 3:17–19...

The Great Faith of a Moabite Woman

What made Ruth’s decision to stay with Naomi so remarkable? Do you see evidence of saving faith in Ruth?

See Ruth 2:11-12...

Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Psalm 34:22 “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

The Return to Bethlehem

Naomi wanted to be called Mara instead of Naomi. Why?

Naomi- pleasant; Mara- bitter

Was Naomi correct in crediting the Lord with her misfortune?

See Job 1:21-22, 2:9-10...

Isaiah 45:7 “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

See Ecclesiastes 7:13-14...

Should the knowledge of God’s sovereignty over all things bring comfort or despair to the believer?

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Ephesians 1:11 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”

Job 42:2 ““I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

“The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God… All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family… He does not explain His actions to us any more than He did to Job, but He has given us what the sufferers of old never had- the written revelation of His sovereignty and love and His manifestation of Himself in the Savior. If those saints could triumph so gloriously without such revelation, shall we who have it go down to defeat?” — Margaret Clarkson