I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
Such language is suitable to a sinner. It is the highest evidence of grace, when the soul is led to see the hand of God in our afflictions. And oh! how very precious is it when the soul can say, "I went out full in creature-comforts, creature-confidences, creature-dependencies; but my God hath stripped me of them all. Call me no longer therefore pleasant; but let my name be bitterness." How delightful are those preparatory works of God the Holy Ghost in the heart! And Reader, depend upon it, when your soul and my soul are thus emptied of all that we once named pleasantness, then are we prepared for that precious gift in Jesus of the new name, and the white stone, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. Compare Isaiah 62:2 with Revelation 3:12; Revelation 3:12.