Hello, welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win to the Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Steve Harness. I'm one of the pastors here at the church, and we are pleased to share this Bible message with you today. Thank you for watching and listening. May the Lord bless you. Brand new message series starting today in the Book of Ruth. So if you have your copy of Scripture, the Old Testament Book of Ruth, it's right after Judges. The Book of Ruth will be going through verse by verse and by each chapter, Lord willing, the next couple of weeks. It's great to have our oldest daughter back, and so make sure you say hi to her. It's always good to have your kids here, so it's great to see each of them today. So three funerals and a wedding, that's what we'll call this message series. These are messages of disaster and restoration from the book of Ruth. We'll call this message today, Friends in Low Places. There's always moments that throughout life we'll encounter that are low moments. And we'll experience, all of us will experience low moments at different times in life. It was 1990, Garth Brooks released this song and it was called Friends in Low Places. And it's really a sad song. When you think about it, about how it resolves to find A way to live. And the first verse in the chorus goes like this. He says, uh, blame it all on my roots. I showed up in boots and ruined your black tie affair. The last one to know, the last one to show, I was the last one you thought you'd see there. And I saw the surprise and the fear in his eyes when I took his glass of champagne and I toasted you and said, honey, we may be through, but you'll never hear me complain. So his previous wife is getting remarried is the idea. And he's giving a toast, you know, I was surprising you, I'm glad we're through, we're done. And then he says, "'Cause I've got friends in low places." It's a catchy tune, you've heard it before. If you go anywhere out to eating or walking through fairgrounds or anywhere, the mall, et cetera. "'Cause I've got friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away." and I'll be okay. Yeah, I'm not big on social graces. Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis. Oh, I've got friends in low places. What a sad song. What a terrible song. How to resolve your life and the issues of life by drowning out your sorrows with alcohol. Well, there's no Oasis that serves beer that's gonna be your best friend. but some people will resort to that and they'll think that. You know, if I just get some alcohol, all my problems will be gone. These are not friends that he's referring to. There are friends in low places that all of us need. So I'm going to borrow the title because it's a great name, it's a great title. Because we have low places, but we need legitimate and real friends. And we're going to find that in the book of Ruth. We need friends in the low moments, the low places of life. And maybe you've experienced trauma. You've been to the ER. Maybe you've gone through a divorce. Maybe you've gone through a breakup or relationship or heartache or a child running away or all kinds of different things. difficulty at work, whatever. We're going to all have low moments, and I think we can all find something that will be an encouragement and a help to you and to myself today from the book of Ruth. Ruth, the book of Ruth, is a compelling love story. that demonstrates how three people remained strong in their character and true to Jehovah God, despite the society around them crumbling. And it takes place in a time of the judges. Here's kind of like a timeline. that you can look at. Moses dies and the people enter the promised land. Joshua distributes the land. Joshua dies a few years later and then around 1386 or 10, 1210 to 1050 B.C. would be the 375 years of the Judges. Well, the book of Ruth takes place right somewhere in the time of the Judges. It tells us that. in the opening verses. We don't know if it's early on or later on. It's supposed that the prophet Samuel is the one who wrote the book of Ruth and detailed the account as he was the author of the time of the judges writing that narrative for us. And then later on the judges end whenever Saul becomes the king of Israel. And so that's kind of a timeline and time frame of when it's happening for knowing when this book is taking place. So let's read the first few verses here in Ruth 1, verses 1 through 5, just to start out. Now, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, so during the times of the judges, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah, that's Bethlehem, Bethlehem is the Hebrew there, Bethlehem or Bethlehem, means place of bread, house of bread. A lot of wonderful things take place in Bethlehem. You think about David lived in Bethlehem. Oh, little town of Bethlehem. Where's Jesus born? Bethlehem, house of bread. This is an important place, Bethlehem. And so Bethlehem, it's in Judah. That's why it's Bethlehem, Judah. It's like saying Saratoga, New York, It's the same idea, Bethlehem, Judah, in New York, Saratoga's in New York. And he went to sojourn, or to live, it does have the idea of temporariness, like a temporary idea, but he does stay there for a while, in the country of Moab. He and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi. Elimelech, his name means, that the Lord is God, El and Melech. It's the Lord is God. And the name of his wife, Naomi. And her name means pleasant, delightful, lovely. She had a cheerful personality. A lot of times when you read Bible names, the character and qualities of the person are found in their name. It's like a defining feature for that person. So she's a lovely, a beautiful person, has a cheerful, pleasant, delightful attitude. and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Malon and Chilion. Ephrathites, that means they're citizens of Bethlehem because Bethlehem, Ephrathah, you know, out of the east shall come the Messiah. It's the same place. It uses these similar names synonymously of Bethlehem, Judah. And it came into the country of Moab and continued there. Let's stop for just a moment. Malon means sickly and puny. sickly and puny, and to top it all off, Chilean means pining and weak. These boys probably went to their pediatrician a lot when they were young. And they probably were very young and maybe like, hey, get these guys some vitamins, man. I mean, these guys are just, they're just thin as rails, they're weak. That's not a really good characteristic or quality when you're thinking about their names here. That kind of describes who they are or how they were physically. In a limeleck, Naomi's husband died. She was left and her two sons. Sometime after that, in verse 4, they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah. If you read it too fast, it almost looks like Oprah, but it's Orpah. Orpah. It means neck or fawn or gazelle. Maybe she had a long neck. I mean, I don't know. She's known for that. You get the descriptions here, like a gazelle. She's a pretty, pretty lady as well. The name of the other, Ruth. Ruth means companion or friend. We all need a friend like Ruth because we're all gonna have low places in life. And they dwelled there about 10 years. Now, I don't know if it's that Limelech and Naomi lived there for 10 years. I think the way that it reads is like after the boys got married, they lived there 10 years. That's kind of how I am reading how this is taking place. And Malon and Chilion died also, both of them. And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. She was all alone. But she had her daughter's in-law. that were there with her. Friendship is such an important aspect and part of humanity and the Christian life that God has given us, if you're a Christian. Now, individualism is a worldview that many Americans have adopted, whether they would say it or not. Individualism is, in contrast to true friendship and Bible friendship, individualism is a worldview. And it's the belief that the individual is the primary reality and that our understanding of the universe and lifestyle should be centered in one's self. Individualism says that my unique interest and my goals should be pursued as much as possible by whatever means deemed proper. So it's like I'm a god unto myself. Whatever I think I want, I will do whatever I can do or want to do to accomplish what I want to accomplish or to be or to do. That's individualism. Individualism is all throughout society, it's projected upon our young people, it's projected upon us as well. Be your own person, be your own man, be your own woman, do whatever you want to do, be whoever you want to be, et cetera. But that stands in really a contrast to Bible relationship. The worldview of the Bible, for us is humanity towards God and God towards us, it's relationship. The Bible worldview is relationship with God. That's the worldview. It's not me, myself, and I. That's individualism. That's egocentricism. It's all about me. Life, the universe revolves about the individual. That's not the case with a true friend. Ruth is a true friend who goes above and beyond, who goes the extra mile, who says, my life is not about me, it's about God, and it's about... these other people who are my friends. One person spoke about friendliness, be friendly to all but make none your friends until they know you and you know them. If you've been around any amount of time, you know it's a good idea to know people before you really say this is my close friend. And you may just have a handful of really intimate and close friends in life. But maybe you've been hurt by somebody and you know that that could be a true statement. Tell someone who your friends are and he will know you. Kind of like birds of a feather flock together, you know? Like you could really tell a lot about a person by who they're hanging out with. and who are they emulating or who they're trying to be like. It's by who they are with. It is mutual respect which makes friendship lasting. You have to have a respect for one another, an admiration for one another. I said one person. We do need friends. We need friends in the low places of life. Whatever your situation today, if you're not in a valley moment or in a low moment, you'll be there soon enough. Because life has high moments and it has low moments. It kind of goes like this, doesn't it? I mean, just up and down, up and down. But God is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and you can have Christian brothers and sisters who are right there with you in the low moments of life. And we all need people like that. we should purpose to be that type of person to others in our lives as well. So let's just notice some of the low places that Naomi encountered. In verse one, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, a lack of food. There's a food shortage. We are not as familiar with a food shortage in America today, but there was a shortage. And what are we gonna do? Elimelech, God is my king. God is the king. My God is king. He says, I have an idea. And let's go. And let's just, let's go on down to Moab. Did I show you the map yet? I don't know where the map is at. Let me go back here to the map. Maybe I skipped over it. But, did I skip over it? Is there no map? There's no map? Amazing. Okay. So, it disappeared. The sound system infected it. I'm kidding, if you were here at the very beginning. All right, so Moab is related to Abraham because of Lot. Oh, there it is. I don't know where it went. It was further down the slide or something. So Moab, descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew. There were Ammonites and Moabites. When Zoar, Zoar, Lot says, oh, we have to go to a city. We have to go to a city. When God sends his angel and says, we're going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot says, oh, I can't go to the mountains. I need to go to the city. Well, Sodom and Gomorrah is right around over here. And if you go around over there, you can find there's a whole region that's full of sulfur and brimstone type stuff. I mean, it's really cool. There's little rocks of sulfur all over the place. But his descendants, because his two daughters said, oh, we're the last people on earth. What are we going to do? So they have a child with their father. That's the Ammonites and the Moabites. Ammon and Moab. That's the Moabites. So they're distant relatives to the Israelites, the sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so here's Bethlehem. They say, let's travel. So they traveled and probably went up and down and around this way. Elimelech says, because there's no food, let's go there. Let's go back to the other slide that was just on. So there's a lack of food. So they go to a strange land. There's a different culture there. They act differently. They enjoy different foods. I mean, it's just different types of everything. It's a similar region, but it's still different. It's a strange land. Naomi gets there. It's a different culture. They have different gods that they're worshiping. It's a different society. Not only that, but her boys have been sick since they were born. They're just sickly guys. In verse 2, these fellows, for whatever reason, they're just sickly. They're not very strong. They do die rather young, it appears, in their life because of of their genetics or whatever. They just were sick guys. And then you have a loss of a spouse in verse 3. A limeleck, well he seemed fine, but then he keeled over. He's dead. What am I going to do now? I'm in a strange land and we're in a different culture. My boys are doing the best they can to provide, but they're sick. They built houses, by the way, because we know that in a little bit, she tells her daughters-in-law, go back to the house that your boys built. But then there's a loss of her children because they die in verses three through five. The sickly boys, the weak guys, they're dead. And now there's lonely feelings. In verse five, Notice what it says. Malon Chilling died, also both of them, and the woman was left. The idea is left alone. She's like, I don't have anybody. We moved to a strange place. I don't have anyone. Nobody is here. This would be a low moment, would it not? Strange place, different culture, different, a lot of things. Your husband dies, your spouse dies, your kids die. She has isolation, ideation. She's telling her daughters-in-law in verse 8, she says, go and return. It's the word shub, or shub. And then she says it again in verse 11. She says, turn again, leave me. She says it again in verse 12, daughters, go your way, turn again, just leave me. She says it again after, The first daughter-in-law, Orpah, she leaves in verse 15. She tells Ruth, well, your sister-in-law, she's gone back. She left me. Why don't you leave me as well? She's thinking about just, I'm going to be, just everybody leave me. Just leave me alone, almost, by this point. Then there's also bitterness. In verse 13, you have that idea for she says, nay, my daughters, it grieveth me much for your sakes. The word marar is used here, means to be bitter, to grieving. I have this bitterness of grief in my soul right now. Look, if you would, in verse 20 and 21, and she said unto them, because eventually she gets back to Bethlehem, she said unto them, call me not Naomi, pleasant, wonderful, delightful. No, don't call me that, call me mar or bitter. For the Almighty, she's speaking of God, hath dealt very bitterly with me. The word bitterly there means forcefully or exceedingly. God has been exceedingly forceful with me, and I'm bitter. I'm bitter. I left, in the next verse, she says, I went out full. I left with everything. Even though there was a famine in the land, I left with everything. My heart, my life was fulfilled and fulfilling, but I come back full of bitterness with nothing. I am destitute. I have nothing. I have no hope. So I just figured I go back home to my hometown where at least I know a little bit of things that's happening. But it's been a long time. At least a decade. At least a decade. And so these are low places that Naomi encountered. These are low places that we can encounter as well. And if it's not the same thing, it's very similar. we'll encounter very similar low moments in our life, and maybe you're even in one of those low moments right now, and this is when we need a friend. And this is when we need to be that type of friend to those around us. We need friends in the low places of life. Let's notice some qualities about this friendship. And the friend Ruth, what an amazing woman. And I can't wait to tell the rest of the story over the next couple of weeks. But notice in verses six through 15, because friends in low places look like friends who are undeterred. She is undeterred. Notice when she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people and giving them bread. So she's going to go back to the house of bread. She's going to go back to Bethlehem and she heard they had food once again. Wherefore she went out of the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go. return each of you to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as he have dealt with the dead and with me." This is her first plea. Don't come with me. You go back. Like you took care of your husbands, you know, the sick guys, how you took care of them and you were good to them. May God be good to you. You go back to those houses. You go back to there. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go and return each to her mother's house. Go back to your homes where you grew up. Just start over. Just go there instead of coming with me. She's trying to get them to go back. And verse nine, the Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Okay, so you go back home, or if you don't wanna do that, go to the house that your husband built you. And go there and dwell there instead. And they choose not to do that. And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept. And then they said unto her, so she's already had like two tries to send them back. And they said unto her, surely we will return with thee and to thy people. No, we're going with you back to your hometown, to Bethlehem. And they lift up their voice and wept. We're going to return. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?" Okay, I'm not pregnant right now. I can't provide a husband for you. I don't think you should come with me. You girls are young. You can start over. Don't come with me. And then she says again, verse 12, Turn again, my daughters, unto your way. for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope if I should have a husband tonight, I'll get married today, tonight I'll have a husband and I should bear sons. Would you wait for them? Verse 13, would you tarry with them or for them until they were grown? Are you gonna wait till these guys grow up? If I were to actually have boys tonight. So again, she is trying to convince them to leave. Let's continue reading. So he says, they grieve with me much for your sakes. I am bitter about this, not only for me, but also for you, for the life that you had ahead of you with my two sons, but they're no longer here because, notice this, that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. It feels like to me, she says, it feels like to me God is against me and that's affecting you. God has been against me and that's affecting my daughters-in-law and it's grieving me, it's making me bitter. And they lifted up their voice once again and they wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, it was a goodbye kiss, but Ruth clave unto her." You know, there is a friend that is born for the time of adversity. A friend who loved with at all times. A friend who was born for times of adversity. That's kind of like Ruth right here. And she said, behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back. She tries to convince her one more time. She's gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. What's interesting with what Naomi says here is that Orpah's gone back to her gods. The god of the Moabites was Kamosh. Kamosh. Kamosh was a god that they would offer child sacrifices to. This is a wicked, evil, fake idol that people would worship in Moab. She's gone back to her gods. But at the same time, remember how all this is different living in Moab for Naomi? Ruth is undeterred. She says, no, I'm going to go and be with you. I'm going to go to your hometown. It's new culture for me. I'm going to go to a place that's unfamiliar to me. I'm undeterred. You've tried and you've tried and you've tried to have me turn back, but I am undeterred. You know, it's just an amazing thing when you have a friend that will stick right there with you, undeterred, no matter the circumstance. That's a friend in low places. We all need friends in low places. Rare is the faithful friend who is constant in all his friends' digresses. You know, whatever's happening, it's like this person sticks with me and stays with me no matter what situation we find ourselves in. Oh, I don't know why the map was there, but there's the map. Number two, friends who are strong in faith. Friends who are strong in faith. I need to turn a page, but notice, if you would, as the narrative continues, because Ruth says one of the most memorable statements of faith in all of Scripture. Notice what she says, and Ruth said, "'Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.'" Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." When she had saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. Sometimes at weddings, People have this passage read because of this commitment, this statement and declaration of faith that she is making here. So there's a different word that's used here, entreat me not to leave. The word leave has the idea of forsaking. Stop asking me to forsake you. Stop asking me to turn my back on you. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to be that friend that sticks closer than a brother. I'm going to be there who's right there in a time of adversity, no matter your situation. Don't ask me to forsake you." And notice how Naomi stops asking this, making this request, when she was steadfastly minded. That means stout, strong, bold, and alert. She's just so determined. I will not leave. Your God is going to be my God. Your people are going to be my people. Your dwelling is going to be my dwelling. I am with you. What faith she makes for one who had grown up in a Kimosh worshiping society. She says, no, I've watched your Judaic Hebrew life. Elimelech, God is king. I've watched your boys, and Naomi, I've watched you. You've been cheerful, you've been pleasant. You're bitter right now, but I believe that Jehovah God is the one true God." She's making a statement of faith. It's kind of subtle in between the beautiful poetry of her determination to stay, but she says, your God is my God. This is an amazing thing. She made that choice for herself. Sometimes we think, well, you know, if I grew up in a Christian home, that doesn't make you automatically a Christian. You make God your God or you don't. Or he's not. Jesus is your Savior or he's not. I grew up in a Methodist Church or a Baptist Church or a Catholic Church or a Presbyterian Church or a Pentecostal Church or a Charismatic Church. Okay, put all that stuff to the side. I was baptized or I took communion or I recited a creed. I memorized a verse, you know. All these things that you could do. It's your faith in Jesus only. He died on the cross. He rose again the third day. He's alive in heaven today. And you placed your faith and confidence in Jesus only for your salvation. She was trusting in the Lord for her salvation as well. What a beautiful testimony of faith. We need friends who are strong in faith and you need to be a friend who is strong in faith for your friends who are in low places in their lives. Friendship must be about something even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. C.S. Lewis, I had to put the little mice there, little mouse, the little mouse there. You know, you have something that you're focused on. What's central to our Christian friendships? It's Jesus. That's our common denominator. We all come from different backgrounds, different experiences, different education, different economic status, different vocations, different places that we live. What's the common denominator? We believe in a death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Common denominator. I guess you could have enthusiasm for dominoes, I don't know. Friends who are undeterred, friends who are strong in faith. Number three, friends who are dedicated. Let's continue on. Look at this dedication. So they went, two of them, until they came to Bethlehem. Remember the house of bread? And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them. And they said, is this Naomi? This is cheerful lady. This is the pleasant lady that we knew. It's been over a decade. She's been gone for a long time. Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, but call me Mara. That means better. Call me better. And she says why? For the Almighty. She puts the blame right at God's feet for the Almighty. hath dealt very bitterly with me. He's been exceedingly forceful against me. Don't call me cheerful and delightful. I'm not cheerful and delightful anymore. I'm bitter." Has there been moments in your life when you're bitter? I'm sad to admit there's been times for me. Absolutely. You can let it, you can let a root of bitterness hurt your relationship with God and your relationship with other people. Don't let bitterness define your life. She let bitterness define her life. No, that's not me anymore. I'm not cheerful. No, I'm not delightful. You don't want to be around me. I'm not delightful. I'm bitter. I'm bitter. What's your situation that you're bitter about right now? What's my situation, what's yours? Let's not let bitterness define us. I went out full, I had everything, 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? The phrase hath testified means to answer or to respond. I left my hometown, and Limelech said we should go. I went with Limelech and our two boys. We show up to Moab. And God has been against me. God has been against me. And He's answered and responded to me with affliction. So Naomi returned. And Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. We'll pick up next week, Lord willing, with what the barley harvest is all about, and I'll show you some pictures and talk about that a little bit. But we need friends who are dedicated. Ruth is dedicated. Not only did she say, I'll go, Your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. She actually went. She got to Bethlehem. She took that journey north and then west around the Dead Sea to arrive at Bethlehem to the house of Brad. When they walked into the city, these people were surrounding Naomi. Are you Naomi? Yeah. Well, I used to be Naomi, but don't call me that anymore. Amara, who was right there with her the whole time? Ruth. Who was right there engaging with all these new people? Ruth. Who was the one learning a new culture, maybe a little bit of a new language? Who was the one who adopted a new faith and religion in Jehovah God? Well, it was Ruth. Who was right there in the low moments? It was Ruth. We need to be friends like that to others and all of us needs friends like that because we're all gonna have low moments in our life. A true friend is a forever friend. They are very determined like this, they're very dedicated. Does that mean everything is perfect? No, there are moments where you're gonna get tense with one another, yes. Are you gonna have disagreements? Absolutely. Are there gonna be times when you have little squabbles and things? Well, sure, we're people. But they stick it out. They're dedicated and we need to be friends like this. True friend is a forever friend. A friend loved with at all times and a brother is born for adversity. That would be really a great description for Ruth. She was there just the right moment for Naomi. Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Our friendships towards others should make them better people. Our friendships towards others should help them become better Christians. The friends around you should help you become a better Christian. Think about it in that reciprocal way. Many will entreat the favor of the prince, and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. If you say, I don't have any friends, just start giving things to people, you'll make friends pretty fast. Just be generous, be generous. And you'll have people kind of gravitate towards you being friendly. Ye are my friends, Jesus said, if you do whatsoever, I command you. And he also said right before that, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Who's the best example of friendship? It's Jesus Christ when he died on the cross, taking our place, taking our sin, taking our punishment. and praise the Lord. He rose again three days later so that we could have eternal life and forgiveness of our sins. We need friends in the low places of life. What kind of friend are you going to be to others? What kind of friend will I be? What kind of friends do you have around you today? There's another song, Simon and Garfunkel, and I don't know why, but I was looking at different songs about friendship. Don't talk of love. I've heard the word before. It's sleeping in my memory of feelings that have died. I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain. If I never loved, I never would have cried. I am a rock. I am an island. I have my books and my poetry to protect me. Shielded in my armor, hiding in my room, deep within my womb, I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock. I am an island." 1965, I am a rock. That's not friendship. They don't know what friendship is. We don't want to be like the bitter moment of Naomi saying, everyone leave me, everyone leave me, just get away from me, I'm bitter. We don't want to be like that. Be the friend that God's called you to be and have friends around you that are going to encourage and nurture and enrich your walk with the Lord. This is an individualism worldview. If it all revolves around me, it's all about me, and that is antithetical, it goes against what Bible friendship is. It goes against what being like Ruth-like would be like in our lives. Here's our questions that I'll ask you today. I want to become a faithful friend like Ruth. Number two, may God help me to recover from bitterness. And number three, I need salvation, the forgiveness of sins. Let's take a moment to visit with the Lord, and before I pray, let me ask you these questions. The first one is this. I want to become a faithful friend. This is the time for you to respond. I want to become a faithful friend like Ruth. That's my prayer today. Is there anybody like that? You can be that friend in low places. Yes, a lot of hands. God help us. I want to be that friend in low places. God help us. Thank you. Number two, may God help me to recover from bitterness. I think there's some bitterness. There's something, I have some resentment or something about something that happened or something someone did or I don't know, something's right between me and someone, I have some bitterness. God help me to recover from bitterness. Is there anybody like that? I see some hands all around, yes. God help these people right now. Ask the Lord to show you what that bitterness is and with his help pull that out, that root of bitterness, pull it out. Give that to the Lord. Number three, I need salvation, the forgiveness of my sin. I've never asked Jesus Christ to be my savior. I've not yet expressed faith in the resurrection of Jesus. I want to know more about salvation. I need salvation, forgiveness of my sin. Is there anybody like that in the auditorium? I need to be saved today to trust Jesus. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the life of Ruth. What an example we see in her of friendship. We thank you for Naomi, and we've learned and gained great insights even into our modern lives from these two women. As we explore the next few chapters over the next couple of weeks, Lord, we pray that you would continue to teach us about friendship, teach us about how to walk closer to you. Lord, we pray that we would be the friends that you've called us to be, encouraging, engaging, and helping others, and being there in those low moments. And Lord, if there's bitterness, let us identify that, what the source is, and then confess it to you. and ask for restoration and help. And if there's one without Christ today, we pray that they would trust and believe in Jesus. Father, we pray that you'll bless this day. Thank you for this time to gather and worship. Bless each one as we go from this place. We ask in Jesus name, amen. Thank you for listening to this Bible message today. What are the next steps? Well, if you have Bible questions, want to know more about Christianity, or have some other question, please reach out to us. We'd be glad to provide a Bible answer to you. This ministry is pleased to come to you weekly, and it's only possible through your prayers and gifts. Thank you for your support.