Ruth 3:1-6

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 

Ruth trusted her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law seeked the best for her so that she would find rest, comfort and protection in the house of her husband.  Its amazing to see here how she was obedient to her mother-in-law and in the end, she was rewarded with a husband and a son. She went from losing so much to being richly blessed again.  

As I read this account, I noticed a small similarity in the words describing what both Ruth and David did. Yes, these are two very different circumstances, but it was interesting to read them together.  

2 Samuel 12:15-23

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

David was in a state of mourning and submission to God for the sake of his son’s life but when God allowed his son to die David accepted God’s decision. This can be seen in David’s behaviour to wash, anoint, cloth himself and move forward. He worshipped God and he eat again. He moved on and not in a begrudging way.  

His love for God was more than what he wanted. He wanted his son to live but he loved God more and so he changed his state of mourning into one of acceptance and love shown in his worship for God. Soon after this he was blessed again and got another son who was loved by God, Solomon. A blessing just as Ruth got her blessing.

So, Ruth was obedient, and she was blessed, and David trusted God and he was blessed. Ruth trusted her mother-in-law and you can say this is a Godly quality as this is how we should love. So, Ruth loved her mother-in-law and trusted her and David loved God and trusted him. And in this we can see how we should love others and God even more than we love ourselves.