So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
It is one of the most important precepts of the gospel as well as the law, cleave unto him (that is, the Lord) for he is thy life. Deuteronomy 13:4. And certain it is, that if Jesus be our chief joy he will have our chief company. We shall stand fast by him and his people, and not be found in the field of the world, nor seeking our comfort from carnal pursuits. From one harvest to another, and from one full moon to another, if the Lord be our portion the Lord will be our delight.
REFLECTIONS
READER! pause over this chapter. Are we not, hike Naomi and Ruth, returned out of the country of Moab, brought by divine' grace to seek sustenance in the land of Bethlehem? And have we not, hike them, a kinsman of our first parent, a mighty man of wealth indeed, whose name is Jesus? Yes, dearest Lord! let it be our hap to glean in thy fields, for all the world beside thee is but us a wilderness. All other sustenance is but as the husks which the swine do eat. And wilt thou not, dear Lord, though we are strangers, eye us when we seek to glean in thy pastures, and bid thy servants, the ministers of thy word, to drop suitable supply to our need? Conscious of our nothingness and poverty, we have reason indeed, like Ruth, to come with trembling and with apprehension. And should our Lord but graciously condescend to speak to his servants, Oh! what holy joy with it afford, that One so great, so glorious, should regard creatures such as we are. Surely the most becoming language of our hearts must be, like Ruth: Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger. Oh, Lord! let a poor Gentile, whom thou hast taken into thy church and family, find grace in thy sight: and let thine Holy Spirit give to me such strength, that I may never glean in other ground, nor seek comfort from other resources. No! blessed Jesus! there is enough in thee to live upon forever. Oh! may I abide in thee, and keep fast by the companions of my Lord's service. And let thine eyes be upon me from harvest to harvest, and from one end of the year even to the other end of the year, until the whole of thy dispensations concerning thy church on earth are ended: and then may it be my lot, with all, the ransomed of Zion, to return with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads; then s/tall we obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.