Turn with your Bible to Ruth chapter 3. I've entitled this sermon, Finding a Needed Rest. Ruth chapter 3, verse 11. And if you'd like to stand as we read God's word this evening, Ruth chapter 3, verses 11 through 18. We'll read that this evening. Ruth chapter 3, verses 11 through 18. Finding a needed rest. What is necessary and what is required for us to really find rest? Here in verse 11 it reads of Ruth chapter 3, and now my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, albeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee. As the Lord liveth, lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morning, and she rose up before one could know another, and he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her. And she went into the city, and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, these six measures of barley gave he me. For he said to me, go not empty into thy mother-in-law. Then said she, sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall. For the man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you that in your word we can learn how we can truly have rest. And Father, I pray that you'd help us this evening for those who might be struggling, discouraged, That Father, as we look at your word, we find the peace and the hope and the rest that comes in knowing Jesus Christ. And Father, for those who are lost, that are not certain of their salvation, of their eternity, that Father, tonight they would settle that very decision. And so God, we just commit tonight into your hands. We sure love you. And Lord, we just thank you for what a marvelous, wonderful Savior you are. And Father, I pray that you'd help us to be found faithful. God, I ask for your help to guide my lips in everything that I say. God, I commit this into your hands. And Lord, we love you. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen. You may be seated. One of the early explorers of South Africa's ocean waters, Bart Ptolemy Diaz went around a cape on a stormy sea. His ship threatened to go to pieces, so he called the place the Cape of Storms. But Vasco de Gama, who came later, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, for he saw ahead of him the jewels and treasures of India. You can call this life a life of storms if you wish, but if you can see the glorious redemption of eternity ahead of you, You can call it what it is only in Christ, a life of good hope. The passage of scripture we're going to look at this evening gives great hope for the future. It's a tale of happiness out of past heartache. The foolish deeds of Ruth's husband to live and abide in Moab and to marry pagan women. would meet the promise of hope, as we'll see in this chapter. We see how we can find hope, how we can find rest. This hope comes through redemption, patience, and submission. It is these truths that would lead Ruth to find rest, just as it does for the believer today, several thousand years later. Chapter three of Ruth, if you look with me here at verse one, then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek, what is the word next? Next word, rest. If you look at verse 18, for the man will not be in rest. Chapter three is about Ruth resting. She's finding her place, her identity, she's finding rest in the promises of God. And it's this formula to finding rest that will help us today. And the principle this evening is the key to true rest is the willingness to be redeemed, to wait on God, and ultimately to live a submitted, yielded life. I want to look first of all at a handsome Redeemer as we find here in verses 11 through 13. We find that as a Redeemer, a redemption from evil, Ruth would be spared from being alone. She would also find rest in a husband to care for. She would no longer be a Moabite damsel. She would no longer be a Moabite widow. She would no longer really be seen as a Moabite. No, she would be seen as Boab's wife. She'd be seen as an Israelite that had married by an inheritance in the very promises and the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now obviously at that day they did not see that. She would no longer be a damsel attached to the embittered Naomi. She'd be the blessed spouse of Boaz, a man with a great testimony of love for the Lord. She would be adopted. Boaz was signifying of his undying and his acceptance, undying desire and acceptance of Ruth's proposal, as we'll find here, as she would get under his feet and pull the coat over top of her as a signifying that she is saying, would you marry me? Boaz was rescuing and redeeming Ruth from a cruel world and a fate to being unprotected. And we find several truths in the scriptures as a redemption from evil. You'll find it in several passages of scripture. We're going to look at a number of Scriptures this evening as we go through and under look at the idea of redemption waiting and Submission and so those are the three points. I want to look at this evening And if we have those in our lives, we've been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ But we're allowing him to continue to redeem us from our sinful selves. We can find rest if we wait on God and But that all is contingent on whether I'm willing to be submitted and yielded fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we find here in Genesis chapter 48 verse 16, the angel which redeemed me from all evil. We find that Jacob had mentioned the fact that he was redeemed from evil. Bathsheba and David, as he's talking to Bathsheba, as he's about ready to pass off the scene, he's about ready to pass away. and Solomon is going to take over the throne. And at 1 Kings 1 29, and the king swear and said, as the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress. David is saying, you know what? I've been in a lot of trouble. I've been in a lot of struggles and you know what? You know how I got out of the struggles? The Lord redeemed me. He bought me back. He helped me out. He brought me from that very slave market of struggles and trials and God pulled me out of that. I want you to look with me at Job chapter 19. In Job chapter 19, verse 25. You know what, we need rest to our souls. We can get physical rest and it helps us out, but to actually get rest to our souls is a tremendous, tremendous help. You see, we can go through a lack of sleep if we have rest in our souls. But if our souls and our spirits are discouraged, our souls and our spirit are in conflict, it doesn't matter how much sleep we get, we can wake up and still feel exhausted. Here in Job chapter 19 verse 25, Job said, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom shall I see for myself? And mine eyes shall behold and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. And Job would look forward to the day that he would see God, even though the boils and everything else were causing him unbelievable pain. Now in Psalm chapter 26, as we find like Ruth's predicament, she would walk in integrity and was seeking rest under Boaz's hand and ultimately under God's hand. In Psalm 26, if you'd like to look there, you can. Psalm 26 verse 8, As it reads, it says, Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, and whose hand is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity. Redeem me and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in even place, and the congregation will I bless the Lord. She's saying, be merciful unto me, God, help me. Psalm 107 verses 2 through 4, find Ruth would also be safe from other not so good men as we find here that Ruth is in a day and age of the judges. The judges rule that every man did that which was right in his own eyes like we have today. Humanity says, I ought to live however I want to live. Don't you dare tell me how to live my life. But God's word tells us how to live. In Psalm 107 verse 2, let the redeemed, the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. But think about this. We wander in life. But we need God to redeem us. We need God to get in there and help us in those situations to pull me out of the pit I'm in. And this is not just a pit for before someone's saved. This is a pit that we can have as believers that David would cry out, redeem, help me. Jeremiah 15, 21, I would deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked. Or how about Lamentations 3, 58, Oh Lord, thou has pleaded the cause of my soul, thou has redeemed my life. Jeremiah had a ministry where no one listened to him and he said, Lord, you've redeemed my life. You've given me hope in the darkness where there was no light. And our redemption is from evil. And we can find that all around us and evil all about us. And it can create as this not only redemption from evil, but it can create a bondage in our life. In Exodus chapter 6, verse 6, and we'll find over and over in the Scriptures, if you'd like to look with me here at Exodus 6, 6, the second type of redemption we'll find in our lives is a redemption from bondage. Redemption from evil, redemption from bondage. In Exodus chapter 6, verse 6, as it reads this evening, and at all times the Bible reads the same, but in Exodus 6, 6, wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. And I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm with great judgments. And that's kind of the same thing, and the mercy of the wealth, the strength, and the mercy of God, Exodus 15, 13. And thou in thy mercy hast led forth thy people which thou hast redeemed, and it goes on there, thou hast guided them in thy strength into thy holy habitation. And Boaz, kind of a similar thing, would need to be very determined. If you look back at Ruth chapter 3, verse 18, Says, then she said, sit still my daughter until thou know how the matter will fall for the man will not be in rest. Boaz was determined to redeem Ruth. And in the like manner, the Lord Jesus Christ and God himself, Almighty Jehovah God, would say to Israel, I am going to redeem you. I'm going to make you mine. I'm going to get you out of Israel. Now God had already made the promise to Abraham hundreds of years prior. And so they were his, but they were in bondage. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verse eight, but because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath, which he had sworn unto your fathers, that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And we can get into the places of our lives where we feel we have absolutely no way out. We feel that the walls are closing in on us and God redeems us and pulls us out and gives us bondage. And now Israel moved from Egypt into the wilderness, but yet they were still free. God was leading them. It wasn't Pharaoh telling them what to do anymore. They had freedom because God was now leading their life. Moses was leading them under the leadership of God. And Boaz would also redeem his Ruth to be his wife, something like you would find in 2 Samuel 7 23. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible for thy land before thy people, which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods. Also kind of like Isaiah 41, 14, fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy deemer, the reholy one of Israel. So we have a redemption from evil, we have a redemption from bondage, we have a redemption to serve others. And we find that Boaz would serve Ruth. Ruth, Boaz would bless the two widows here. We'd find that he would say, put out your veil, and he would end up giving her six measures of barley to bless her. And you find that very truth in Deuteronomy chapter 24, verses 18 through 19, the principle that Israel, you came out of Egypt. You came out of bondage. You were a stranger there. You need to remember the stranger in your land. You need to remember the fatherless. Remember the widow to take care of them. And that God will bless you. And so Boaz, in that very same sentiments, began to continue to bless the widows. And he would redemption to serve others. There's a redemption from sin. When Boaz was doing that very act, as we'll find in chapter 4, as he says, I will do the part of seeking to redeem you. Boaz was trying to undo what Ruth's first husband had committed. Ruth's first husband, in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, had married a pagan woman outside of God's will. However, Ruth put her faith and trust in God, her husband died, And Boaz is now resurrecting the name if he marries Ruth. There's a redemption from sin. And we all can make mistakes in our life, we can go down bad paths, and God can redeem us from those areas, those paths of life that we find ourselves on. We say God can never forgive this. I want to tell you that God can redeem from the sin that we put ourselves in. Now there's still consequences. The name of Naomi's husband would live on. Psalm 49, 15, but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave for he shall receive me, Selah. There was a curse on Ruth as a Moabite, a childless widow. In Galatians chapter 3, verse 13, look at me here, Galatians 3, 13. This redemption that Boaz has said, I will redeem you, I will do the kinsman's part, is exactly like what the Lord Jesus Christ did. I'm going to redeem you, you're lost. You have a different kinsman redeemer. You have someone that's closer to you, you have Satan that's closer to you, but guess what? I'm gonna pay the price and I'm gonna make you my own. And here in Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. When he says I'm going to do the kinsman's part, guess what Boaz is doing? He is fulfilling the law to get Ruth as his own. He's redeeming from sin. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. In chapter four, verses four and five, Boaz would seek to fulfill the law by redeeming Ruth from the dregs of widowhood. Galatians chapter four, verse four, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Ruth is under the law. that we might receive the adoptions of son. Ruth, I want you to be my own. I'm going to buy you back through the law. I'm going to make you my own." And here's something that amazing has happened when that redemption comes. It's a redemption to God's blessings. That redemption is not from a bondage of Satan to a bondage that's thinking that she's under some harsh husband in a pictorial fashion. No, as we, you and I, are redeemed from Satan unto God, a loving, and it talks about the bride of Christ, as all believers, one day as we come to heaven, we'll be with Him. He's waiting for that day. He calls us home. And Ruth's life after redemption be that of a secure rest in her husband, Isaiah 35 verses 9 and 10. No lion shall be there. This is during the millennium that it's speaking here in Isaiah, but nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Redemption to God's blessings. Ruth would be free. She'd be free of the stigma. She'd be free of the sin of her husband and marrying in a pagan land, not moving back. She would be free. of many things. She didn't have to work the fields anymore. She had a husband to care for her. She was also a redemption to a unique relationship. You know, when God redeems us as his child, it is an absolutely amazing and unique relationship. When you think about that, Isaiah chapter 43 verse 1, the idea of redemption and future marriage for Boaz and Ruth would eventually spell out a beautiful relationship. Isaiah 43, 1, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. In Boaz, you'll find in chapter 4, as we're going to look ahead eventually, he could say, Ruth, you're my wife. God could say, you're my child. You're my bride someday. You know what, it really is an amazing thing when God redeems us. And if I can take solace in the very truth of redemption, that God redeems me. And Boaz, with Ruth's choice, an only choice for a husband, Isaiah 44, 6, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. Ruth was saying, Boaz, I want you to be mine. As I spoke about last week, Ruth went up to him and Boaz told Ruth, he says, you could have had young or old, poor or rich, and yet you chose me. Now he's old. Young, you could add young and poor or rich, but yet you chose an older man, a much older man. And Ruth's choice was very clear. But that redemption brings a closeness, and I like what Isaiah 44, in kind of a similar context here, Isaiah 44, 21 and 22. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, and thou shalt not be forgotten in me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, as a cloud thy sins return to me, for I have redeemed thee. How about Isaiah 47.4, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel. He's showing us His name. That special relationship when you're redeemed by God. It's a sacred, sacred relationship. You can say, Isaiah also goes on in 6 chapter 62, the holy people. Israel would be known and renowned as God's people. And Ruth is no longer a Moabite, soon to be. She'd be Boaz's wife. Boaz would pay the redemptive cost to make her his own. And Boaz's motivation to make her his, and just as the Lord's desire to make us his as well, Titus chapter 2 verse 14 discusses, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify into himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Boaz says, Ruth, I want you as mine. And God says, I want you as mine, a peculiar people, separated people, my people, my people. We find something else here in Ruth chapter three, multiple times in verse 14 and verse 18, chapter three. And he said, and she lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could know another. And he said, let it not be known that a woman came onto the floor. Verse chapter, actually verse 13. He says, Terry, this night, wait until this night is over. And then in verse 18, the mother-in-law Naomi said, sit still. And God is saying, wait, wait, I'm going to redeem you. And there's times in our lives we're saying, God, I need to be redeemed out of this situation. I need it right now. Life is too bad. Life is too difficult. It's more than I can handle. And God says, wait, sit still, Terry. And you said, how can I find rest if I'm maintaining in this conflict? I find myself in. The very thing that Ruth had to do is wait. Or Boaz, he had to wait on someone else to do the work. And you and I have to wait on God to do the work. We have to wait on God to work on our lives, God to work on others' lives, God to do the work. And sometimes he just says, sit still. And that's where your rest is. You say, that doesn't make sense. In Psalm 25, verses four and five, show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths, lead me in truth and teach me. Thou art the God of my salvation, on Thee do I wait all the day. I've got to wait for instruction, direction, truth. But as I wait, I can wait. That waiting produces a strength and a defense. Ruth, as she would wait, would be given six measures of barley. He would take care of her. There was a strength. Psalm 27, 14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen the heart. Wait, I say in the Lord. Ruth, wait. He's going to encourage you. Boaz will make you his wife if at all possible if that nearest kinsman does not want you. Just wait. But Lord, I need out of this. Just wait. I want you to rest. I want you to look with me at Psalm 37 this evening. Psalm 37.7. You know, this is something that's difficult. We don't tend to find rest in waiting. We find rest after we've accomplished a task, worked hard at it. But God says, no, just rest, just wait. Psalm 37 verse 7, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way. Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass, cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Don't become anxious. Don't become frustrated and irritated. Verse 9, for evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Ruth. There's a wedding happening. Ruth, there's a man that desperately wants you. Christian, there's a God that wants you to wait on him to find your true rest. It can be nerve wracking and Ruth had to wait patiently. She didn't know what was going to happen. She put her heart out there. And she had to wait on God. Psalm 59.9, because of his strength, while I wait upon thee for God is my defense. Ruth knew of Boaz's strength. She knew of his determination. She said, I'm just going to trust in his character. Ruth had firmly believed that Boaz would rescue her. Proverbs 20.22, say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord and he shall save thee. You said evil is happening to me. Evil is coming upon me. And God says, wait. But we find something here in this time of waiting, she would be renewed. In Isaiah chapter 40 verses 30 and 31, a famous passage, even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Your rest comes in waiting. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint, but it's contingent on waiting. He redeems you when you wait. We'll also find something else for waiting. There's a waiting for promotion. Ruth was waiting to be a Mrs. Boaz. We're waiting to become the child of God. We're waiting for that day when we're fully God's child, fully redeemed, all of us, all three parts of us, our body, soul, and spirit. Your flesh is no longer sinning. Your flesh is no longer given to doing its own desires. No. You're there for doing God's will. You are in your perfect body, fully redeemed. Your waiting is over. In Psalm 37, 34, wait in the Lord and keep His way and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. All of God's blessings and the full actualization of these blessings take time. In Acts chapter 1, verse 4, is the Lord Jesus Christ would tell His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father. What was happening? He would give them the Holy Spirit of God. Wait in Jerusalem. Wait. But here's something else that waiting does for us. Not only is it a waiting for promotion, but it's a waiting for goodness. Something better is coming. The things that occurred in Ruth's life in the past, the heartache, the hurt, Naomi's bitterness that she had to deal with. But Boaz, ever since she had entered the field of Boaz, nothing but blessings had come. He took notice of her. Notice of her hard work. Notice of her character. Notice of her politeness. Everything that she was in that field, her character, when she entered the field, and when we enter into the field of God, we're redeemed and made his own child for salvation. There's blessings that come. Challenges, yes. Hard days, hot days. I mean, she's out there working the fields, gleaning. It's not a grandiose type job. It's a hard, sweaty, dirty job. And yet the blessings of being in his field are far beyond what she could have ever had. But she had to wait on him. And just like Ruth, our expectation ought to come from the Lord. Psalm 62.5, my soul, wait thou only upon God. My expectation is from him. You know what, God? I don't understand why I'm going through what I'm going through. He just says, wait. In obedience to waiting, great things lie ahead. Psalm 123 verse 2, behold, as the eyes of servants look into the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maiden into the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us. Until we're out of this world, we're done. He just says wait. Great things lie ahead, though. The only hope that Ruth had in waiting was Boaz's word. Psalm 130 says, I wait on the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. What was Ruth's promise that Boaz would fulfill the kinsman part? She had to trust his word. She merely had to trust his word. That was Psalm 130, verses five through seven. Let Israel hope in the Lord, verse 7, for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption. Don't be discouraged when you have to wait. As Lamentations 3, 25 through 27, the Lord is good unto them that... Who is God good for? Look, turn with me, this is very important. It's all important, it's all God's Word, but nevertheless. Lamentations, chapter 3. Where does the waiting come from? What does the waiting do? How do we receive God's goodness in our lives? How do we receive rest? Lamentations chapter three, verse 25, the Lord is good unto them that, what? That wait for him. To the soul that seeketh him, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It's good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He says, wait, wait. God's goodness is coming. The only path to true redemption, as Hosea discusses in Hosea 12.6, therefore turn thou to thy God, keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. And we as believers wait on the Lord's return and Boaz would eventually return. As she said here in Ruth chapter 3, how the matter will fall, Ruth you just need to wait and see when Boaz comes back. He's coming back with a message. You need to wait for it. Believers today we wait for Jesus Christ to come back in the clouds and call us to glory Or we wait for the day that we die and then we're in the presence of God either one You can find those in Romans chapter 8 23 to 25 1st Thessalonians 1 verses 9 and 10 and other places So we're redeemed the redemption is on waiting and And that waiting and that rest that we get from God is contingent on ultimately our submission. Being humble. In Ruth chapter 3 verse 11, and Boaz says to her, and now my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman, a humble servant. The key to all the ideas of finding rest, strength, redemption, and wealth was contingent on waiting and submitting. Our spirits hate waiting. Many of us, we just hate waiting. God fixed the problem now. But when I wait and God redeems me and I am that submitted servant, something happens. Ruth had to submit her spirit to Boaz, to Naomi's. She had to submit. The waiting of Ruth yielded protection under Boaz and under her mother-in-law, she submitted to both authorities. In Psalm 25, 20 through 22, O keep my soul and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee, redeem Israel, God, out of all his troubles. The Lord's going to protect us if we're submitted. That waiting is an act of submission. as much as we don't like waiting. It's kind of like a little kid watching their parents, you know, their mom or whomever, bake some cookies and you're like, oh, I smell it, oh, I'm waiting to eat those cookies, or that pie, or that cake, or whatever it is. You're waiting in anticipation, but you can't have it until it's ready. You can't have that rest. You can't have the goodness of God if you're not willing to wait, but the act of waiting is an act of submission of your will to God's will. And Ruth had received strength and food and protection, all the rest, because she submitted her spirit. In Psalm 31, three to five. Turn with me here to Psalm 31. If you have your Bible this evening, Psalm 31. How many of you like to wait? Wait on God. God, fix the problem now. I need an answer now. He'll say, you're just not ready. You're not submitted. I can't fully redeem you. I can't help you because you haven't, you're missing the vital ingredient of submission. In Psalm 31 verse 3, Into thy hand I commit my spirit, thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my troubles, thou hast known my soul in adversities. He says in verse 5, hear the psalmist, into thy hand I commit my spirit. It is a full waiting on God. Lord, I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense. Lord, it hurts. And you're just saying, God's saying, wait. But something else that happens when I submit, not only does it yield protection, but it also yields answered prayer. And Ruth's desires for Boaz was being met as she yielded to him and to Naomi. Ruth would ultimately become his wife in Psalm 37. You find yourself still there in Psalms. Psalm 37 verse 3. God wants my will submitted to his will. And that is the part and the reason why we can't wait. Because I'm not willing to put my will under God's will because I don't trust him. And God says, I can't redeem you, I can't get you out of the struggles you're in because you're not willing to submit your will. Psalm 37 verse 3, trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell on the land and verily thou shalt be fed. The trust, the submission brings full satisfaction. Verse four, delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit, again an act of submission, thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him and what will happen and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noon day. When's the last time we just said, God, I submit. God, I'm willing to wait. As I come to the conclusion this evening. Many times we don't receive that redemption, the first point, because I don't get past the absolutely necessary principle of submission, yielding of my will. I don't trust. Ruth trusted Boaz, she trusted Naomi, and she trusted the Lord ultimately. And Boaz says, Ruth, I'm going to make you mine. And the problem is, I don't trust. And if I don't trust, then I'll never wait. Because I can't wait in something I don't trust in. If I don't trust God, I'm not gonna wait. I'm gonna forge ahead under my own plans. I'm not gonna let God have his way. No, it's my way. Because I'm not gonna wait. Something has to be done and it has to be done now. I'm going to read a quote for you from Jonathan Edwards. The redeemed are dependent of God for all. All that we have, wisdom, the pardon of sin, deliverance, acceptance in God's favor, grace, holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory we have from God by a mediator and this mediator is God. God not only gives us the mediator and accepts his mediation and of his power and grace bestows the things purchased by the mediator, but he is the mediator. Our blessings are what we have by purchase, and the purchase is made of God. The blessings are purchased of him, and not only so, but God is the purchaser. Yes, God is both the purchaser and the price. For Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings by offering himself as the price of our salvations," end quotes. Look with me at Joel chapter two, verse 25. Joel chapter two, verse 25. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you." There was a leanness of soul, and God promises to restore. Ruth had gone through some hard times in her life. She lost a father-in-law. She lost a husband. She had a bitter mother-in-law. She had a very difficult time. She went to an absolutely foreign land. There's some real struggles that she went through. And God is restoring far beyond what she could ever have, giving her rest. Ruth chapter three starts off with rest and it ends with rest being discussed. It's Ruth resting. that God is at work, that God is sovereign, that God is in control. It's that aspect of a submitted spirit, a waiting spirit, and a God will redeem. The best thing in life, the best things in life are worth waiting for. I'm going to read a final verse for you this evening, Isaiah 54, 5. For thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name. And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall he be called. And Boaz would say to Ruth, I'm going to redeem you for myself. And God says to you, I want to redeem you. If you're a believer, he says, I want to redeem you from what you're going through. But I need you to wait and I need you to submit. An illustration here, when Sir Michael Faraday, a great scientist from the 1800s was dying, some journalists questioned him about his speculations for life after death. Speculations, he said, I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and because he liveth, I shall live also. We don't, we have a lot of speculations in our lives. We live as though our life is a speculation. Ruth would find rest, not in speculations, but in the certainties of God. She would find rest in the fact that God had led her into Boaz's field. God provided for her. God led her to the man that would be her husband. God led her into the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. God led her. They weren't speculations. They were certainties. Little bit by little bit, she knew what God wanted her to do, but she had to wait. She had to submit. And this evening, Christian, if you want to find rest, finding needed rest, You have to submit. You have to submit your will to God's will, and you have to be willing to wait. Because unless you're willing to wait, you'll never find redemption. The truth is, we want to be in control. Ruth said, you know what? I'm going to trust God. And we find the promises and the blessings today because she waited and she submitted. And so as we come to the time of invitation this evening, I'd like to challenge you with those very ideas. How are you doing on submitting? How are you doing on waiting? Just wait on God. Let God lead. Rather than trying to find a solution, let God do it. When you let God work, you will find rest. You'll find redemption.