Devotions: Ps 104, 137:1-6, 144; Ruth 4:1-17; 2 Cor 4:13-5:10; Mt. 6:1-6
Let my soul bless YHWH; my God, You are very great, clothed in majesty, robed in honor, covered with light as with a garment. You stretched out the universe; You make flames Your messengers and the winds Your ministers. All nature operates by Your wisdom and power; all life springs forth from Your steadfast love. The glories and diversity of nature dimly reflect Your character, Lord. How many and varied are Your works. May Your glory endure forever, and may all creation bring You joy. May my thoughts be pleasing to You, and may my soul bless the Lord. Let all the lives praise the Lord, giving thanks, for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever. He is God of gods, Lord of lords. He made all that exists, and arrayed creation in a manner pleasing to Himself. He trains me for the spiritual battles; He is my Fortress and my Refuge. We are a passing shadow, a mere breath; but the Eternal loves us and takes thought for us. Come forth, might Lord! I will sing a new song to You; rescue me from all enemies. Prosper my children and grandchildren. Give us Your favor in all we undertake. Happy are the people whose God is YHWH, to whom such blessings flow.
Boaz aggressively pursued fulfilllment of his promises to Ruth. He appeared at the gate of Bethlehem and, having established a minyan of ten witnesses, encountered the man who had a nearer kinship claim to Ruth and to purchasing the lands of Naomi's dead husband Elimelech. The other man yielded his claim and forfeited that right to Boaz. Boaz bought Elimelech's land and took Ruth as his wife, 'to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.' And the witnesses affirmed the agreement, and blessed Boaz. So Boaz took Ruth as his wife and presently she bore a son. Naomi took the boy in her bosom and became his nurse; they named him Obed, and in his turn, he became the father of Jesse, the father of David the king, and ancestor of Jesus the Messiah—all in the line from Abraham through Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, and Boaz
Paul's second Corinthian letter continues: We have the same Spirit as he who wrote, 'I believed, and spoke accordingly.' We, too, believe and speak accordingly, knowing that He Who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Him and bring us, with you, into His presence. It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, thanksgiving may increase, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nautre is being renewed every day. For the slight momentary afflictions are used by God to prepare us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to visible things, but to things unseen: for visible things are transient, but things unseen are eternal. We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we will obtain in turn a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. Here we groan, indeed, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling, so that by putting it on we may not be found naked. While we remain in this fleshly body we sigh with anxiety—not that we want to be unclothed, bodiless, but that we want to clothed more substantially, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He Who has prepared us for this very thing is God, Who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we live in good courage; we know that while we are in this body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and would rather be out of the flesh and at home with the Lord. So: whether we are at home or away, we make it our constant aim to please Him. We must all appear before the Messiah's judgment seat, so that each may receive good or evil, according to what each has done while in the body.
Jesus teaches: Beware of practicing piety in public so as to be seen by people; for then, you will have no reward from your heavenly Father. So when you give alms, sound no trumpet, as do the hypocrites in the synagogues and the streets, so they may be noticed and praised by mortals. I tell you truly, they have received their reward, such as it is. Rather, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you.
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