Show Notes
Ruth 3
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen.
[00:00:02] Let's pray.
[00:00:04] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can cry to you and that you hear our cries, you hear our prayers, you know our sufferings and you use them for our good. You answer them. You bring relief in this life and especially in the life to come.
[00:00:25] Lord, we ask that you, our self. Your self would be our peace, as your word says. We ask that you would help us not to put our peace and our hope of peace in the things of this world, whether it be food or drink, particular relationships or education, money, time, ability.
[00:00:50] Lord, there are all kinds of ways in which we are constantly seeking to find peace.
[00:00:57] And apart from you.
[00:00:59] We ask instead, Lord, that we would find it in you and you alone, and then receive and enjoy all the good things that you have made, the good providences that you give to us.
[00:01:13] We ask, Lord, that you would help us to see and understand these things and more through your word today.
[00:01:22] Bless the reading and preaching of it here and all over the world as we rejoice in the good news of the inclusion of Gentiles into the kingdom of God.
[00:01:33] And we think of Ruth, a Moabite woman brought in and loved so tenderly and by your people, by Boaz, but especially by you.
[00:01:46] And we ask that many others, all throughout the world, of other peoples, other languages, would leave their gods, leave even their families to find true hope in the family of God.
[00:02:06] Lord, it is you and you alone who are everlasting. In you and you alone there is everlasting life and a depth of love that we will never get to the bottom of.
[00:02:18] Strengthen us in all of these things. Conform our minds to the truths of your word.
[00:02:23] May your gospel go forth through us and throughout the world.
[00:02:29] We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:32] You may be seated.
[00:02:46] So today I'm going to begin by reading two passages of scripture.
[00:02:53] First, Proverbs 31. Actually, at least the beginning or the middle of it. So if you want to turn there, we'll read Proverbs 31:10 through 23, and then we'll turn to Ruth.
[00:03:07] Ruth, chapter 3.
[00:03:11] I want to begin with Proverbs 31, because for a couple reasons. One, in some versions of the Bible, some ancient Hebrew versions, Ruth actually comes right after the Proverbs.
[00:03:27] And some people think that this order is significant and intentional.
[00:03:33] So you read about the woman that is described in Proverbs 31, and then bamboo the story of Ruth, even if that order is not particularly prescribed by the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:47] Certainly there are interesting parallels and connections between these, between Proverbs 31 and the character traits and things we see in Ruth.
[00:04:00] That's all the more interesting when we remember that Ruth and Boaz are the great grandparents of David. This is setting things up for the kingdom that is coming, the Messiah, the anointed One of God, who comes in David and ultimately comes in Christ.
[00:04:21] So interesting things there. We'll begin with Proverbs 31, verse 10.
[00:04:29] An excellent wife who can find she is far more precious than jewels.
[00:04:34] The heart of her husband trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain.
[00:04:38] She does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
[00:04:42] She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of a merchant. She brings her food from afar.
[00:04:50] She rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
[00:04:57] She considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands. She plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
[00:05:06] She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
[00:05:12] She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
[00:05:26] She makes bed coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.
[00:05:38] And now Ruth, Chapter three.
[00:06:02] Then Naomi, her mother in law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
[00:06:11] Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were?
[00:06:16] See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
[00:06:30] But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.
[00:06:39] And she replied, all that you say, I will do.
[00:06:42] So she went down to the threshing floor, and did just as her mother in law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
[00:06:55] Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
[00:07:00] At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. He said, who are you?
[00:07:07] And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a Redeemer.
[00:07:14] And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord. My daughter, you have made this kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
[00:07:26] And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask for. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
[00:07:35] And now it is true that I am a Redeemer. Yet there is a Redeemer nearer than I remain tonight. And in the morning, if he will redeem you, good let him do it. For if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.
[00:07:53] So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before anyone could recognize another.
[00:07:58] And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
[00:08:04] And he said, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.
[00:08:08] So she held it out and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother in law, she said, how did you fare, my daughter?
[00:08:19] Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me. For he said, you must not go back empty handed to your mother in law.
[00:08:28] She replied, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
[00:08:39] May God bless his word to us.
[00:08:48] One of the things I like to encourage couples that are thinking about getting married and want to have some kind of premarital counseling or something like that. One thing I think is a really good thing to do is to go talk with other couples and just to hear their story. How did they meet?
[00:09:08] What brought them together?
[00:09:10] What trials have they gone through? Just to hear and experience what life looks like as a couple.
[00:09:18] And what you learn through that is there's all kinds of interesting stories. People come together and go crazy ways, sometimes expected, a lot of times, odd and unusual things.
[00:09:30] There's a measure of joy in the mystery and providence of God and the way that he brings people together, this is all the more true and I think especially special to us when it's members of our own family that we talk to.
[00:09:48] If we ask our parents how they met, or our grandparents or great grandparents, these stories are interesting and sometime tragic, sometimes sad, sometimes joyful.
[00:09:59] Human life is intermingled and mixed.
[00:10:03] But sometimes there are stories that are so good heroes in our family history that are so amazing they get passed down from generation to generation to generation.
[00:10:16] We Remember that Grandma so and so, or great Grandpa so and so did such and such a thing when he moved from maybe one country to another, when she started that business, or when they met through whatever circumstances.
[00:10:31] And as these things pass down, they get passed down, not just because they're great stories to tell, but because the people telling them want to form us, shape us.
[00:10:43] We listen to stories, and sometimes we're warned, don't do that.
[00:10:49] We really messed up back there. We don't want to do that again.
[00:10:53] Sometimes the stories are meant to inspire us, to make us hope, to wonder, to see things, to know truths. And they remind us something sometimes of who we are, where we come from, for good, for bad. Sometimes they are important in shaping in our lives.
[00:11:14] And Ruth is like that.
[00:11:16] The story of Ruth is this amazing love story.
[00:11:20] And here we're right in the middle of it, between Ruth and Boaz and ultimately God working in their lives and working in the lives of his people.
[00:11:31] A story that has been told for generations and generations.
[00:11:37] I wonder. I like to imagine David at some point hearing the story of his great grandparents.
[00:11:46] Perhaps his father, Jesse, right, you know, is out there teaching him how to be a shepherd. And while he's out there, he says, let me tell you about Ruth and Boaz.
[00:11:57] He heard these words, he heard these stories.
[00:12:02] We are not told in Scripture. But it's interesting to think about how this story in particular might have shaped his kingship, what things he might have thought, as he thought about the kinds of the ways in which he would lead, what generosity meant, what kindness meant, what marriage looked like.
[00:12:25] Would there be times when he'd think back on the story of Ruth and Boaz and feel guilty for maybe not living up to that example that had been set before them?
[00:12:36] As we think about David, I think about it in that way, in part to encourage myself and encourage you to think about that in this way, because Ruth and Boaz, this story is not just David's great grandparents.
[00:12:49] There are great grandparents. They're part of our family history, as I said earlier, not just for those who are Jews, come descended biologically from the tribes of Israel, but for those who have been adopted into this family of God. These are our grandparents, one of the many stories that we have that shape us and help us to understand things.
[00:13:16] And so we have this great love story, this great love story and really kind of two heroes.
[00:13:26] There are some questions from time to time about what's going on here, and is there some sort of impropriety, right, with Ruth coming in the middle of the night. And is the uncovering of the feet a euphemism for intimacy or something more untoward or inappropriate?
[00:13:47] I don't think so.
[00:13:49] And there's a few reasons I don't think so. I want to share those with you today.
[00:13:54] One reason is that there's nothing that the narrator has told us in the accounts of Boaz or Ruth that suggests that there's questionable behavior with either of them.
[00:14:08] There's nothing that we've been told throughout the story or for the rest of the story that makes us go, I don't know, that was a little shady, other than maybe this thing, if we read it a particular way.
[00:14:20] So what I'm saying is there's this great collection of evidence where we see them acting honorably all of the time.
[00:14:29] We also see them acting with restraint.
[00:14:33] Notice how Boaz is very careful in the ways that he talks with her. Notice how he protects her. Notice how she is called worthy by him.
[00:14:42] She is known to be worthy, a worthy woman.
[00:14:46] Those traits that are demonstrated in Proverbs 31. We see over and over in her life. Her care for Naomi, her self sacrifice, her willingness to do risky things in the name of. Of love for her mother in law, his generosity. He just keeps giving to her more and more and more at his own cost. And without anything seemingly to be gained, he expects her to go after the young men. He's surprised when this happens, which means that his heart. He's not angling to try and get together with Ruth. This comes as a surprise to him.
[00:15:26] He is simply being generous because he's a generous man.
[00:15:31] He admires her traits. He admires what she's doing for Naomi. He recognizes their poverty and his place, his position to be able to help them.
[00:15:41] And even in this story we see various other elements of restraint and carefulness.
[00:15:51] Verse 7, for example, when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
[00:16:00] This is the end of the season.
[00:16:02] They have just collected all the things. They've collected all of the grain. They've been threshing it out. They're having a big feast. They're celebrating and they're. Yeah, they're ending with a celebration, a big party.
[00:16:16] And he's not drunk. His heart is merry.
[00:16:20] He goes to lie down and he lies down.
[00:16:23] She comes as Naomi describes, and softly uncovers his feet and lays down.
[00:16:31] She doesn't snuggle up next to him. She doesn't lay on top of him.
[00:16:36] She lays in some ways Close to. Well, some ways she obviously lays close to him. But in some ways, one of the most distant ways she could be near him is and yet be close.
[00:16:47] Right? She's far from his hands, she's far from his head. She's at his feet, and there she lies.
[00:16:58] Now, this is obviously unusual.
[00:17:01] This is a somewhat risky thing. Why would she do this?
[00:17:06] This is a guess of mine I don't think we can have as a guess.
[00:17:14] I think she's doing it so that she can speak to him alone, so that she can preserve his honor. And likewise, he wants to preserve her honor. She doesn't go to him publicly and say, you're my redeemer, I want you to redeem me. Now, how are you going to be about it? Right? She doesn't put him on the spot. She comes to him quietly so that he can know what the desire is and. And think about it and respond to it without it being a public manner. Likewise, he sends her home quietly and hidden.
[00:17:49] I think there's. There's carefulness here is what's going on. Restraint is what's going on.
[00:17:55] And so she comes, she lays down, and then in the night, he is startled, as many of us are in the middle of the night.
[00:18:05] Perhaps the cool air, right? As the night gets colder. His feet were uncovered and he got cold. Maybe that even happened to you last night. You wake up and you go, ah, my feet. They're uncovered, and you cover them back up. This, I think, explains why she uncovered his feet so that he would wake up later.
[00:18:27] And so he goes to sleep. He wakes up and there she is.
[00:18:35] And she says what it is she wants. He says, who are you? And then she says, I am Ruth, your servant. And she asks him very directly, spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
[00:18:50] A redeemer is not just a nice religious word that means a good guy.
[00:18:55] It means. It has a very specific meaning.
[00:18:57] It means somebody who is a helper, specifically in the Old Testament context.
[00:19:04] Excuse me, a family member who comes in to protect the name of a family member who has died. A family member who can come in and help.
[00:19:15] So Naomi's husband, Elimelech had died, and she has this field she needs to sell.
[00:19:22] Ruth is needing to be married. They need protection.
[00:19:28] And so the closest redeemer, there's a. There's an order that's given in Scripture. There's an option for a close redeemer to come in and help them, and that provides good benefits from the family. And there's other Theological implications of that, because there's kind of a chain of people. It can go to this person and then to this person, then to this person. They have at least two. We know of possibilities, possible redeemers, and Boaz is one of them, but he's not the closest one, which means he can't say yes to this. And we'll see. In chapter four, he goes publicly and announces. He talks to the one who has the opportunity to redeem. And he says, are you going to do it? This is your right, you can do this. And we'll talk about that next time. Why he says, no, this line, yet there is a Redeemer nearer than I.
[00:20:20] It carries a lot of weight. Of course, it refers not only to this specific person, but the Lord who is close and who is called in the Scriptures our Redeemer. The person who comes and to his own loss, loves us and saves us.
[00:20:40] And so Boaz does not sleep with her in an intimate sense.
[00:20:47] He sends her off in the morning and of course he's got to load her up with food before she goes, right? This is like when you go to somebody's house and before you leave, they're like, here, take this box, take this box.
[00:21:00] They need it. And he knows it. And so he sends her home. I'm not going to send you home empty. You must not go back empty handed to your mother in law.
[00:21:11] And so she comes back to her mother in law. And Naomi replies, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today, yet another instance of either the narrator, the Holy Spirit here, or people in the story all affirming across the board the good character of Boaz, the good character of Ruth.
[00:21:42] If something, something inappropriate were happening here, it would be very strange.
[00:21:51] It would be outside of the character of everything that we're seeing, everything we're being told. And there's a natural and easier explanation that lines up with everything else that we're seeing in the context.
[00:22:04] And so what we have at the end of this is Ruth being the example of this kind of woman that he should want, that Boaz being the example of a kind of husband that she wants. These two heroes of the faith role models.
[00:22:24] Now, not all people in Scripture are described this way. In fact, I would say most aren't.
[00:22:31] There's a lot of examples in which the great heroes of the faith have. Are shown to have lots of faults and troubles and they go through dark times and they leave the Lord and various things happen and that's life.
[00:22:46] But sometimes the Scripture speaks in a way that really highlights the righteousness of someone and sets someone before us as a true role model.
[00:22:57] We think of people who followed the Lord and did so bravely and clearly.
[00:23:04] This doesn't mean, of course, Ruth is sinless or that Boaz was perfect or anything like that. They had troubles and trials just like every other, every other couple ever has.
[00:23:16] But the point is, as the Holy Spirit gives to us this story, he wants us to see this, to respect it, to admire it, to wonder at it, and to, I think, also emulate their characteristics. His generosity, his kindness, his self sacrifice, his protection, his help, her generosity, her kindness, her honor, the way she gives respect and care to each other and then of course, to their community, to Naomi and all the rest.
[00:23:56] What we're seeing here is an example of love, an example of deep love, of worthy love, of admirable love, what life is like under ultimately the love of God.
[00:24:12] What does community life, what does married life, what does premarried life look like under the love of Christ?
[00:24:23] And what we see is that ultimately it's a very beautiful thing.
[00:24:34] This is the way in which. This is one of the ways in which God is bringing forth his kingdom. He's demonstrating the kind of love not only he desires, but the kind of love he gives.
[00:24:47] And this is really important, the gift of the love of God here.
[00:24:52] It might be tempting to think, when we think about all the examples of Naomi and Boaz, their relationship and all their doing and all these things, to think of them as some kind of like awesome power couple, right? This sort of amazing example that they just sort of from themselves have generated this kind of morality and life and godliness.
[00:25:15] But that's not how they talk.
[00:25:18] That's not how the scriptures talk. It's not what the scriptures tell us.
[00:25:22] What they tell us and show us over and over is that this love that is found in them, that we are seeing in them, is coming from God.
[00:25:31] Notice the way that Boaz talks, for example, here. And we've seen this throughout so far. He sees her and he says, may you be blessed by the Lord.
[00:25:42] He doesn't say, awesome, I did it. I'll take care of you. That's not the first thing he says. He says, may you be blessed by the Lord.
[00:25:51] In other words, he doesn't see himself as her ultimate hero. Remember, he doesn't even know what's going to happen yet. Maybe this other Redeemer will redeem her. He doesn't know.
[00:26:01] He sees her blessing as through the Lord. And she sees that as well.
[00:26:07] And the elders of Israel will say similar things in chapter four. And we've seen this in various perspectives. Their perspective is Godward.
[00:26:15] Their perspective sees the God of Israel as the source of their character, their lives, their circumstances, and even of their suffering.
[00:26:26] Remember, as amazing as all these things are that are happening, there's a lot of awkwardness and poverty and difficulty and danger all, all around in this story.
[00:26:38] But we see through it all God's providence, God's care, God's protection.
[00:26:46] And we see that these things are happening because of who he is.
[00:26:52] And so while they might be heroes in a certain sense, ultimately our faith does not come by our ability or our faith is not resting in our ability to mimic them.
[00:27:04] Our faith is in following the God they followed, in trusting him and waiting on him and looking to Him. Because our circumstances are varied and they turn out different ways.
[00:27:17] Not all love stories end well, not all start well.
[00:27:23] There's a mixture of things and throughout life, all kinds of trials and struggles, except for one.
[00:27:32] There is one love story that is perfect and is even greater than the one that we see here.
[00:27:42] And again, it comes from God.
[00:27:46] The love story of God loving his people, of loving Israel and then beyond Israel reminds us who he is, that the love that they experience between each other and is ultimately under God. And that's something we experience too.
[00:28:07] Not all of us have this romantic, lovely start to our marriages, to our romantic relationships or friendships or whatever else.
[00:28:20] But all of us, every single one of you who are in Christ Jesus do have a starting point that is really perfect, really truly lovely.
[00:28:36] Whatever is worthy and admirable in Boaz is infinitely more so with God.
[00:28:44] We know in the back of our minds Boaz isn't perfect. And of course that's true. But the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is perfect in every way.
[00:28:58] A man who was totally honorable and honorable and moral in every single action he ever took. In his love, in his provision, in his protection, in his generosity, in his hospitality, in every single aspect of it. There was no sort of side motive or, you know, other little story that was going on.
[00:29:26] He's perfectly pure in everything that he does, every they did and everything that he does. No one more worthy him, which ultimately allowed him to be a perfect sacrifice that was acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins.
[00:29:45] We can think not as we think about the.
[00:29:49] We'll think more about this next time, but about the sacrifices of Boaz.
[00:29:55] It doesn't even begin to compare to the loving Sacrifices of our Savior who gave his own life.
[00:30:02] He didn't just see his net worth drop a little bit.
[00:30:05] He gave his life for you.
[00:30:10] He honorably came into this world. He saw you and he loved you and he chose you. And he put his wings over you.
[00:30:21] And the depth of his love that each of us who belong to him, the depth of his love that we experience, every single one of us, is even more deep when we consider not only the heights of his love, but the depths of our unworthiness.
[00:30:39] You know, Ruth can look at Boaz, or, sorry, the other way, Boaz can look at Ruth and go, this is easy. You're a worthy woman. Everybody knows about it. She's not some random Moabite who showed up and is leeching off of people. She's a worthy woman. And he's right to want to be her Redeemer, right to want to be her husband.
[00:31:04] It's different between us and Christ.
[00:31:07] He doesn't look at us and say, wow, Christopher, so worthy.
[00:31:14] He doesn't look at us through the corridors of time in our amazing faith and think, that's one I'll choose.
[00:31:25] That's even true. That's true of Israel. It's true of the Gentiles. If you turn to Ezekiel 16, the start of the love story of the Lord and his people is described here in terms of they're similar to Ruth, and they describe us as well. It's a picture of who we are and what God does.
[00:31:53] In Ezekiel 16, again, the word of the Lord came to me. Here the prophet speaks. God's people, Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say, thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite. And as for your birth, on the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. No eye pitied you to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you. But you were cast out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
[00:32:40] That's a sad picture.
[00:32:43] We care for our infants. We should care for our infants, the little ones, and not cast them out this way.
[00:32:54] But this is how he describes Israel being cast out, open in the field, in its own blood.
[00:33:02] And then he says in verse six, and when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in Your blood, live. I said to you, in your blood, live. I made you flourish like a plant in the field, and you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
[00:33:24] And when I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love. And I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord, and you became mine.
[00:33:38] Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in a fine linen and covered you with silk, and I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
[00:34:01] Thus you were adorned with gold and silver. And your clothing was of fine linen and silk embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty, and your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.
[00:34:29] Now, if you know this passage, you know that it goes on to say darker things.
[00:34:34] How Israel, in her beauty, in all of this grace that had been poured out on her, went and then poured herself out to the gods of this world.
[00:34:45] But God. And God talks about his judgment that comes on here, but ultimately he keeps his promise. In the end he promises her an everlasting covenant, in which, if you read at the end of verse 16, he says in verse 62, I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord. That you may be remember that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame when I atone for you, for all that you have done, declares the Lord.
[00:35:18] This is our picture.
[00:35:22] This is a picture of Israel here in its particular time and setting. But it's also a picture that's applied to us in the new Covenant In Ephesians 5, when Jesus talks about coming to his bride and taking her and cleansing her of every spot and wrinkle. A bride of Christ that's described in Revelation as beautiful and glorious.
[00:35:42] The love of God, the presence of God and his Son between us, between him and man, is beautiful and glorious. And it comes.
[00:35:54] This is the main point here. It comes as an act of grace.
[00:35:59] When we think about the sins that we have committed, when we think about the spots we have put on our own souls, the darkness, the uncleanliness, the sinfulness that is in us, and remember that God loved us while we were yet sinners and not kind of loved or enough to sort of pity us and, you know, give us a bottle of water or something. But love in which he chose us and beautified us and saved us and made us worthy of royalty, love which made us worthy of belonging to Him.
[00:36:39] A love which he promises to us forever, that will never fail.
[00:36:47] That is the story, the love story that every single one of us have with Christ.
[00:36:55] Our husband.
[00:36:58] He is the lovely one, and he makes us lovely.
[00:37:03] Through the giving of his own life, through his own sacrifice, through his love, he gives us his righteousness, he perfects us, he establishes us, and he one day will perfectly glorify us.
[00:37:19] And it's in that hope that we can then live out our lives and make our decisions about how we love others, about the kind of generosity we bestow, the kind of kindness we have, the kind of patience we have with our spouses, with our friends, with our neighbors, with people on the other side of the aisle, with our enemies.
[00:37:45] As we think about our lives in this world and the love that God calls us to, let us remember and be grateful for and put our faith in the love of God, our Redeemer.
[00:37:58] There's none like Him.
[00:38:00] Let's pray.
[00:38:02] Our Heavenly Father, we praise you for your good news to us. We ask that you would establish your word and. And that you would make us, that you would make us more and more holy, that we might be more and more like our Savior.
[00:38:18] Thank you, Lord, for covering our nakedness, covering our shame, for drawing us and bringing us, despite our unworthiness, into your kingdom and making your church your bride.
[00:38:34] We ask that you would strengthen us in these things. And when our hearts sorrow for lack of love in this world, for the harshness of this world, for the sins and the wickedness in our own hearts, teach us to look beyond those things to the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is our true peace, our true healer, our Redeemer, perfecter, and the one who unites us to God. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
