wonder at kindnesses, however small, rather than make light of them and disparage the givers; look into themselves and their own unworthiness, rather than remember anything that is of worth in them, or might win them attention. So with Ruth. Her mind is fixed upon that which might have hindered, viz., the fact that she is a stranger, rather than upon anything else. So with the pardoned sinner. He feels himself the object of such grace and boundless mercy, that his own unworthiness and guilt are more apparent to him than ever (Tyng). Lastly, IV. What consciousness of need is here. She knows what she is, a "stranger," but does not attempt to disguise the fact, and all that it means, either from herself or Boaz. A perilous test this, for nothing but goodness in a man will make him kind to strangers (cf. Matt. v. 43-46). Note. Her very frankness is an appeal to his better nature for a continuance of his succour and protection. So humble souls cast themselves always at the feet of Christ. They disguise nothing, they feel that they deserve nothing. Notice that two things were in her favour, and would naturally tend to lead Boaz to listen to her appeal. (1) His own mother, Rahab, was once a stranger to Israel's hope. (2) The children of Israel had themselves been strangers, and were required to remember this (Deut. x. 19). Ruth, however, very properly looks upon her position as enhancing this kindness. So with man's low estate and the lovingkindness of God as displayed in the gift of Christ (Luke i. 48). Man's salvation must ever be a wonder to man, a source of never-ending gratitude and adoration. "Why have I found grace in Thine eyes, that Thou shouldest take knowledge of me?" the language of every regenerate heart (cf. Ezek. xvi.; John xv. 16). LESSONS. (1) "He that exalteth himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Notice. That this was a presage of her better estate. Those which shall receive great blessings are ever thankful for little (Bishop Hall). (2) If poor souls be so thankful to us for a handful, or a sheaf, how should we be affected to our God, for whole fields-full, for full barns, full garners ! "He that has nature in him must be grateful; "In her humility, Ruth, who had done so much for Naomi, and made so many sacrifices, expects no grace or help from others. Even the slight kindness of Poaz overwhelms her with gratitude. She flings herself at his feet, and pours out her thanks for the kindly notice he has taken of an alien and a stranger."-Cox. ... "The Scripture often noteth this civil gesture and comely behaviour as worthy imitation. What difference (is there] between this which is done to men and that which is done to God Almighty? Surely, in respect of the outward act, no difference is there at all, but of the mind, which doth conceive of God herein as God, and so this outward humiliation becometh divine adoration; and of man, but as man, worthy of reverence and honour for his place, his age, and gifts; and so the reverence and worship done him is only civil."-Bernard. "Civil honour may and must be given to all in authority, according to the usual gestures of the country. Now such bowing was the custom of the Eastern people (Gen. xxxiii. 3). As for Mordecai's instance, it makes not against this, he being either im. mediately warranted by God, or else he refused to bow to Haman as being an Amalekite, betwixt which cursed brood and the Israelites the Lord commanded an eternal enmity." -Fuller. "It is a beautiful thing to see persons in reduced circumstances really humbling themselves to their situation, and receiving kindness as it is intended. It is sad to witness the sullen contempt, the haughty dissatisfaction with which every benefit is received by such persons, when their hearts are not softened by grace. It is more blessed to give than to receive, and far, far easier to give in a right spirit than to receive aright. It is most difficult to find the correct medium between a proud rejection of needful relief and an indolent, self-indulgent dependence; between a haughty ingratitude of manner, if not of mind, and degrading sycophancy; but all things are possible to him that believeth; and he who has treasure and a name in heaven will know how to give to the things of earth their due value; and, governed by the will of God rather than by the ebullitions of pride and selfishness, will tread the narrow way."-Macartney. "It may be clearly seen here, that only such as can exercise love understand how to receive it. No one is humbler than he who truly gives from love; of that Ruth is a proof; and for that reason humility never shows itself more beautiful than when love receives. Ruth had made the greatest sacrifices, although no one had a right to expect them from her, and is withal so unassuming as not to look for anything from others. Most people in her place would have made the first favour shown them the occasion for saying, that in truth they were not at all used to such work. Their thanks would have been combined with complaints and accusing insinuations about the distress in which they found themselves, although they had exchanged the people and god of Moab for those of Israel. Ruth's love did not spring from selfishness, and hence did not give birth to any proud self-consciousness."-Lange. "Oh, then, if Ruth interpreted it such a kindness that Boaz took notice of her, being a stranger, how great is the love of God to us, who loved us in Christ when we were 'strangers and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.' As the never-failing foundation of the earth is firmly fastened, for ever fleeting, yet settled on no other substance than its own ballasted weight; so God's love was founded on neither cause nor condition in the creature, but issued only out of His own free favour. So that in this respect we may all say unto God what Ruth doth unto Boaz in the text, Why have we found favour in Thine eyes, that Thou shouldest take know ledge of us, seeing we are but strangers?'" Fuller. "Here shines forth her humility, modesty, and many other graces: she was, as Gualther saith of the Lady Jane Grey, 'Pietatis, prudentiæ, et modestiæ delicium.' Hence she found so much favour, for true goodness is very lovely, οττι χαλον φιλον εστι . . . Non sum dignus, Domine, quem diligas,' saith Augustine. Every saint may say with admiration, as he did in John xiv. 22, Lord, how is it that Thou hast manifested Thyself to us, and not to the world?'"-Trapp. "Receiving, unless we keep a watch upon our hearts, tends to nurture the meaner and the baser self, the churl spirit within us, which is ever stretching out its greedy hand for gain; but giving belongs to that larger life, which was ours when man was made in the image of his God, 'for it is God that giveth liberally, and upbraideth not.' "-B. VERSE 11. Theme. THE SECOND GRACIOUS APPROVAL. "Kindness in woman, not her beauteous looks, "Think not the good, The gentle deeds of mercy thou hast done, Shall cry to Heaven, and pull a blessing on thee."-Rowe. And Boaz answered, It hath been fully showed me all that thou hast done and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother ... • .... and art come, etc. Never was there given to man such a manual for elegance and delicacy in his social relations as the Bible gives (Tyng). Many of the Old Testament saints models in this respect. "He is gentle that doth gentle deeds."-Chaucer. Boaz an instance of politeness growing out of real sympathy and benevolence. We have in his words condescension without haughtiness, commendation without assumption, familiarity without coarseness, delicacy without pretence. Note. (a) Defect in manners is usually the defect of fine perception (Emerson). (b) Refinement of heart springs only from faith (Lange). It is the natural outgrowth of a disposition permeated with the humility of the gospel of truth (ibid.). Observe, I. We can never live a truly noble life without its being known sooner or later. Fame follows virtue as the shadow does the body (Trapp). Well-doing not only deserves praise, but brings favour. Beauty may be defaced, strength may decay, but virtue must always be lovely to those who themselves are virtuous. They seek it, appreciate it, love it wherever it is to be found. So Ruth, and even Orpah, with that which they saw in Naomi (i. 10), and now Boaz with that which he sees in Ruth. "He whose mind Is virtuous, is alone of noble kind; Though poor in fortune, of celestial race." - Dryden. Ruth's virtues shine conspicuous (a) in her good deeds to Naomi and the dead (see on i. ver. 8, 9, p. 39); (b) in that which she denied herself; (c) in her choice of Israel and Israel's God [i. 14-17, pp. 60-70]. Notice. (1) She did no more than she apprehended to be her duty-no more than satisfied her own conscience. Hence her surprise. "Why have I found grace?" (ver. 10.) So the Psalmist. "What is man, that Thou art mindful, etc.?" A common attribute of noble spirits displayed here. They do not see the dignity of the life they lead. It seems insignificant, even commonplace. What could be more insignificant than a gleaner's history? Still conscience reigns; there is loyalty to duty, to convictions, to God; and it is this that will elevate and ennoble the meanest life. "There (2) She thought herself unknown and perhaps neglected. This gracious stranger appears to be perfectly familiar with her whole history. So our fidelity may be secret: He with whom we have to do brings our secret things to light. is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid that shall not be known" -a promise often and partially fulfilled in this world, certainly and completely in the next. It hath been fully showed me. Note. God's revealing a full one, when His purposes are ripe. II. We can never do good to others without its bringing a due and appropriate reward. Naomi must have spoken and told all. How, indeed, could she keep silent? Note. Virtue shall not want trumpeters (Bernard). Even the very stones would have cried out, when Goodness incarnate stood among men, and the hour of His triumph had come (Luke xix. 40), rather than that He had been without the praise which was His due. A story like Ruth's sure to touch a cord of sympathy somewhere or other. Who can tell where or how? Note. The ways in which reward is to come, mysterious, but certain unexpected, but how often nearer than we could have imagined! Ruth begins to reap now for all her past fidelity. Faithful in that which is least, she is to be rewarded with that which seemed to be much. III. We can never really come to trust in God, and be disappointed either of recognition or recompence. This at the root of all else, the moral of the whole history. Ruth had honoured God, now she finds God begin to honour her. Little did she expect it! Had not, could not have had, the remotest idea of temporal reward. Naomi's words were too plain. [See on i. 11—13, pp. 46-48.] So with all those in the position pathetically described by Mynster, the Danish bishop: "I know that I am among the called, and I muse night and day, in watching and praying, that I may be also among the chosen." So with Abraham leaving his fatherland, like Ruth, for God. So with Moses leaving the court of Pharaoh to be with God's people in affliction. So with the apostles, who became aliens for Christ's sake. So with true converts and proselytes in all ages; they come out, leaving all, not knowing whither they go. Notice, then, as encouraging and always true of such. God gives to them (1) reception; (2) recognition; (3) recompence. (1) He receives such; not a single instance of one ever having been rejected. "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Even sin cannot hinder, if we are persuaded; for it is said of Him to whom we come, "This man receiveth sinners." (2) He recognizes such; knows them as His own (John x. 3, 14), and causes them to be known as His. "His Church is to be as a city set upon a hill" (Matt. v. 14), and His people are to be " as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign" (Zech. ix. 16). Said that "by faith the elders obtained a good report;" and Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says, "In every place your faith Godward is spread abroad" (1 Thess. i. 8). (3) He recompenses such. (See next outline.) LESSONS.-(1) Well-doing provides favour to the poor, though strangers, at the hands of the virtuous (Bernard). (2) Let the rich in Christ learn where the first claim upon their charity must always lie, viz., to the poor who are of the "household of faith." (3) Let the poor labour for grace and godliness (Bernard); they may deserve help when they need it. "Always say a kind word if you can, if only that it may come in, perhaps, with singular opportuneness, entering some mournful man's darkened room like a beautiful firefly, whose happy circumvolutions he cannot but watch, forgetting his many troubles."-Helps. "Did it ever strike you that goodness is not merely a beautiful thing, but the beautiful thing, by far the most beautiful thing in the whole world? So that nothing is to be compared for value with goodness; that riches, honour, power, pleasure, learning, the whole world and all in it, are not worth having in comparison with being good; and the utterly best thing for a man is to be good, even though he were never to be rewarded for it." - Kingsley. "A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face; a beautiful behaviour is better than a beautiful form: it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures; it is the finest of the fine arts." -Emerson. "As might have been expected, the generous heart of Boaz opens all the wider as he listens to her thanks, and learns how unassuming she is, how grateful even for the easy kindness he has shown her. He knows who she is and what she has done. And the piety as well as the generosity of the man comes out in his reply: You have left all,' he says, 'in your love for Naomi, -father, mother, and the land of your nativity. The Lord recompense you for this good deed,' etc., etc. Obviously, Boaz had the history of his great ancestor in his mind. Like Ruth, Abraham had left all, and gone out into a strange country. And to him God had said, 'I am thy great reward.' May the blessing of faithful Abraham come on faithful Ruth; this is the wish and prayer of Boaz. He speaks not as a Hebrew landowner to a Moabitish vagabond and beggar, but rather as a Hebrew judge and prophet, -as a prophet who knew that even the stranger who works righteousness and shows kindness is acceptable to God."-Cox. "Nothing can be meaner than flattery addressed either to the rich or poor, but it may frequently be proper to praise those who deserve to be praised. Our Lord praises His disciples when He tells them that they were the men who had continued with Him in His temptations. Paul often commends the Christians to whom he wrote his epistles, although he never failed to remind them that they were indebted to the grace of God for all that was worthy of praise in their conduct or temper. Boaz commended Ruth, not to inspire her with vanity, but to animate her resolution, to comfort her dejected spirit, and to encourage her to use those freedoms which he wished her to use with himself and with other Israelites."Lawson. "Let this encourage men in their virtuous proceedings, knowing that their worthy deeds shall not be buried in obscurity, but shall find tongues in their lively colours to express them. Absalom, having no children, and desirous to perpetuate his name, erected 'a pillar in the king's dale,' dale and the same 'is called Absalom's pillar unto this day. But the most compendious way for men to consecrate their memories to eternity is to erect a pillar of virtuous deeds, which shall ever remain, even when the most lasting monument in the world shall be consumed, as not able to satisfy the ravenous appetite of all-consuming time. And to put the worst, grant the envious men with a cloud of calumnies should eclipse the beams of virtuous memories from shining in the world, yet this may be their comfort, that God that 'sees in secret' will reward them openly.' "-Fuller. "The merit which Boaz imputes to Ruth is of a twofold nature. Induced by affection, she has left the highest possessions of life. She was no orphan; she was not homeless ; she had what she needed; but left all, and that for something unknown, the value of which she was not able to estimate. Thou camest,' he says, 'to a people which yesterday, and the day before yesterday (formerly), thou didst not know.' How? had she not known her family, Naomi, and her own husband, who were of Israel? But this family lived in Moab, where Israel's law was not in force, The national usages and institutions which had been impressed upon Israel by Israel's God she did not know; and notwithstanding this she had said, 'Thy people is my people, and thy God my God.'"-Lange. "Many who are connected by affinity think that no more duties remain to be performed when the bond of connection is broken by the death of that husband or wife on whom the relation depended. Naomi and Ruth were of a different spirit. Naomi never could forget Ruth's kindness to her son. Ruth testified her regard to the memory of her deceased husband by her attentions to his mother. She not only did 'good and not evil' to her husband all the days of her life,' but she did all the good she could to him when he was dead, by performing those services to his mother which he would gladly have performed if he had been still alive. The apostle John testified his affection to his departed Lord by taking His mother to his own house and treating her as a mother. There are kindnesses due to the dead as well as to the living, and in these a generous spirit will be careful not to fail."-Lawson. "Rouse to some work of high and holy love, And thou an angel's happiness shalt know, Shalt bless the earth while in the world above; The good begun by thee shall onward flow In many a branching stream, and wider grow; The seed that in these few and fleeting hours Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sowed, Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers, And yield thee fruits divine in heaven's immortal bowers." Wilcox, VERSE 12. Theme. THE RECOMPENCE OF REWARD. "The soul that works and lives throughout all time "'Tis Thine alone to calm the pious breast The Lord [Jehovah] recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee. Naomi in her poverty had blessed Ruth (i. 8, 9), now Boaz takes up the same strain. Must be something good in those whom poor and rich alike join to praise. Note. (a) The craving of the human heart for the approval of others not necessarily wrong in itself. It is the undue craving, etc. Unexpected, unsought in the present instance, and therefore all the sweeter. When we have the prayers and good wishes of the righteous, heaven itself is touched; and when we win their approval and blessing, it is as though the benediction of God rested upon us (Ps. xxxvii. 22). Note. There is a sense in which every believer may be a priest and prophet to those around him [cf. on i. 8, 9, p. 39]. Remark, I. On the Divine recompence as expected and looked for by the righteous. "I know it shall be well with them that fear God;" the language of every truly believing heart. Much that seems against this; but faith looks through the darkness, and beyond the shadows; knows that there is a power that works for righteousness at the centre of all things, and that every deed of love is sure to meet with its due acknowledgment, and cannot pass unregarded of God (Matt. x. 41-43). Note. It is only our little side of the world which is in the shadow at night time, the whole universe else is filled with light. Mark, (1) then, That there is a recompence of reward [Gen. xv. 1; Ps. xix. 11]. God is no respecter of persons. In every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted (Acts x. 34, 35). Such have the promise of this life and of that which is to come. But note, Our doings stand linked in Scripture with our reward. Not that they earn the recompence, but that they regulate, they measure, they foreshadow that which is to be given as only God can give [Matt. vii. 2, xxv. 21, 23]. Mark, (2) That the godly earnestly desire this recompence of reward. (a) For themselves. They look forward, as the hireling, to the end of the day, when rest begins, and every man shall receive, etc. (Matt. xx. 1-16). Not that they look forward merely with the hireling's spirit. No! but reward means with them, life completed, holiness manifested, nearness to Christ. Therefore they have a desire, like Paul (Phil. i. 23; 2 Tim. vi. 8). (b) For others, as here. They see the righteous in times of trial and poverty, as Boaz saw Ruth. They feel how inadequate is any reward they themselves may bestow. And where they fall short, they turn to God: "The Lord recompense," etc. Note. Boaz did something to bring about this recompence himself-a hint to such as are lavish in good wishes, lax in corresponding deeds. Remark, II. then, On the Divine recompence as prayed for by the righteous. (1) These prayers for the recompence of reward may have a personal aspect, as here. There are some deeds that men can repay; others God Himself only can recompense. Ruth's heroism and self-denial, a type of that which is sustained "as seeing things that are invisible;" which looks for a reward not manifested as yet. Note. (a) Boaz prays for God's recompence, not man's; a full reward, abundant as His love; so that she shall miss nothing, but recover all (Lange). But mark, he prays for this only in the measure of her worth and her work. His prayer has respect to what he has seen and heard, even while he is calling upon the Unseen |