Orpah may well be an OT example of

"the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." (Mt 13:20;21)

The writer of Hebrews adds

MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. (see note Hebrews 10:38)

And finally John writes

They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. (1Jn 2:19)

TO HER PEOPLE AND HER GODS: (Jdg 11:24)

Note not "god" but "gods" indicating the Orpah's polytheistic paganism practiced in Moab with the despicable idol Chemosh being the chief Moabite false "deity", one so vile that its "worship" was associated with child sacrifice (2Ki 3:27), which God says was tantamount to sacrificing one's children "to the demons." (Ps 106:37)

Up to this point in the narrative, one might have assumed that both daughters had forsaken idolatry and become Yahweh worshipers. Now however it seems clear that Oprah's choice of homeland is a choice for her "gods" and not the one true, living God. Set against the background of Orpah’s choice, the courage and beauty of Ruth’s declaration is all the more poignant. Naomi's assessment is that Orpah has returned to idolatry (cf Nu 21:29). As Orpah goes back, she walks off the pages of Scripture into silence and into oblivion, never to heard from again.

RETURN AFTER YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW: (Jos 24:15;19 2Sa 15:19;20 2Ki 2:2; Lk 14:26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)

"You should do the same" (NLT)

"Go home, too; follow your sister–in–law" (NJB)

This is the third time Naomi commands Ruth to return to her people! This scene reminds one of the dying words of Joshua who called for a decision saying

"choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Jos 24:15)

Jesus call to discipleship echoes a similar demand

Septuagint (LXX): eipen (3SAAI) de Routh me apantesai (2SAMM) emoi tou katalipein (AAN) se e apostrepsai opisthen sou hoti su opou ean poreuthes poreusomai kai ou ean aulisthes aulisthesomai o laos sou laos mou kai o theos sou theos mou 

"Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you!" (NAB)

"Stop urging me to abandon you and to leave you!" (NET)

"Do not urge me to desert you by turning away from you" (Berkley)

"Do not press me to leave you and to stop going with you" (NJB)

"Don't force me to leave you. Don't make me turn back from following you" (GWT).

But Ruth - A dramatic contrast marking a change in direction of her life from godless, hopeless, pagan Gentile to one grafted into Israel and eventually in the lineage of the Messiah. Whenever you observe a "but" (or other words associated with contrast, such as yet, nevertheless, on the other hand, etc) pause and ask what is the author contrasting? (See more discussion of contrasts) There are over 4000 uses of this little conjunction "but" in the Bible and all of them are important. Howard Hendricks adds that...

contrasts are always important in Scripture. They indicate a change of direction. ...What does the word but force me to do? To go back to the preceding context... The flip side of comparison is contrast—things that are unlike. We could say that in Bible study, as in love, opposites attract. At least, they attract the eye of the observant reader. There are several ways the biblical writers signify contrast. The word but is a clue that a change of direction is coming. (Living by the Book. Chicago: Moody Press)

Vance Havner quipped that

a good woman is the best thing on earth. Women were last at the cross and first at the open tomb. The church owes a debt to her faithful women which she can never estimate, to say nothing of the debt we owe in our homes to godly wives and mothers.

Examples of
OT Conversions

Individuals who were converted from an idolatrous Gentile background include such major figures as Abram (Genesis 12), Naaman the leper (2Kings 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), Rahab (Jos 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, See especially Scarlet Thread in Jos 2:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24), Ruth (Ru 1:16, 17, 18), and the sailors on board the ship from Joppa to Tarshish (Jonah 1:16). Examples of national or corporate conversion include Judah in the time of Asa (2Chr 14:2, 3, 4; 15:12, 13, 14, 15) and the city of Nineveh (Jonah 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

ENTREAT ME NOT TO LEAVE THEE
by Fanny Crosby

Entreat me not to leave thee,
My heart goes with thee now;
Why turn my footsteps homeward?
No friend so dear as thou!
Thy heart has borne my sorrow,
And I have wept for thine;
And now how can I leave thee?
Oh, let thy lot be mine.

Refrain
Entreat me not to leave thee,
Entreat me not to leave thee,
Or to return from following after thee;
For where thou goest I will go,
And where thou lodgest I will lodge;
Thy people shall be my people,
And thy God my God,
Thy people shall be my people,
And thy God my God.

I’ll follow where thou leadest;
My love will cling to thee;
And where thy head is pillowed,
My nightly rest shall be;
Thy birthplace and thy kindred
I’ll cherish like my own;
Thy God shall be my refuge,
I’ll worship at His throne.
Refrain

Where death’s cold hand shall find thee,
There let my eyelids close,
And, in the grave beside thee,
This mortal frame repose:
Oh, do not now entreat me;
No friend so dear as thou;
My heart would break in anguish
If I should leave thee now.
Refrain

FOR WHERE YOU GO, I WILL GO (2Sa 15:21; Mt 8:19; Jn 13:37; Rev 14:4):

In effect, Ruth was forsaking all that she had ever known to follow the one true God. She was following in the footsteps of Abraham, who had forsaken his family and his homeland in response to God’s command (Ge 12:1, 2, 3, 4, He 11:8, 9 -see notes He 11:8; 9). 

Although not as famous, Scripture records the commitment of another foreigner named Ittai the Gittite a Philistine was in a group of 600 men from Gath who had come to the side of David in Jerusalem. As King David fled Jerusalem, this group of 600 marched by David who then addressed Ittai saying

"Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place. You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, while I go where I will? Return and take back your brothers; mercy and truth be with you." And here although the context is not the same, we see Ittai's loyalty to David for he "answered the king and said, "As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be." Therefore David said to Ittai, "Go and pass over." So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones (their families) who were with him." (2Sa 15:19, 20, 21, 22)

Later when David organized and numbered the army at Mahanaim, Ittai was given command of a third part of the force, and seems to have enjoyed equal rank with Joab and Abishai (2Sa 18:2,5,12).

Compare Ruth's famous commitment with Peter's profession -

"Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." (Jn 13:37)

Peter however momentarily shrank back (Mt 26:75), but did eventually follow through, tradition teaching that he was crucified upside down (cf Lk 22:31,32).

WHERE YOU LODGE, I WILL LODGE:

Every place you go, I will go. Every place you live, I will live (ICB)

where you take your rest I will take my rest (BBE)

She did not know if she was going to a cottage or if she would even have a place to lay her head, so total was her sweet surrender. This is reminiscent of Jesus' reply to those professed a desire to follow Him.

A certain scribe came and said to Him "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. (Mt 8:19, 20)

Ruth was willing to follow Naomi wherever it led!

YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE: (Ruth 2:11; 12 Ps 45:10; Isa 14:1)

As Boaz reiterates in the next chapter, Ruth "left (her) father and (her) mother and the land of (her) birth, and came to a people that (she) did not previously know" (Ru 2:11-note) and sought refuge under the wings of "the LORD, the God of Israel" (Ru 2:12-note) Boaz's declaration implies that Ruth's parents were still alive, making her commitment to the "Chosen People" even more striking.

Ruth as a foreigner or “sojourner” was entitled to certain privileges such as the right to glean the harvest fields (Lv 19:10).

However, Ruth was not simply a foreigner, but a Moabite and the Law stated that no Moabite could “enter the assembly of the Lord...forever” (Dt 23:3) because of what the Moabites had done to Israel during the wilderness journey (Nu 22-25; Nu 31:15, 16).

Moabites were so abhorred that Jews were forbidden even to “seek their peace (or) their prosperity” (Dt. 23:6). Whether she was aware of this is unknown.

Henri Rossi...

her thoughts go farther than simple association with Israel; she identifies herself with the people, whatever their state might be, in order to belong to the God of Israel, the true God who does not change: “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”

YOUR GOD, MY GOD: (Jos 24:18; Da 2:47; 3:29; 4:37; Ho 13:4; 2Co 6:16;17, 18, 1Th 1:9-note)

Thy God, my God - Ruth makes this confession during the days of the judges when the majority of the "chosen people" chose to forsake the living God and cleave to dead idols.

Ruth's affirmation is similar to the picture of repentance among the Thessalonians who heard the gospel

For they themselves report about us (Paul, Silvanus, Timothy 1Th 1:1) what kind of a reception we had  with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God (1Th 1:9-note)

Ruth's action of turning from the idols of Moab and unto Jehovah is an excellent illustration of the meaning of genuine Biblical repentance (click discussion)

It has been well said that faith is not only believing in spite of evidence but obeying in spite of the consequence. Ruth and Esther point the way to that kind of dynamic and exciting faith and all believers do well to emulate their excellent example. True faith is not based on empirical evidence but on divine assurance (He 11:1-note) and ''is the gift of God'' (Ep 2:8-note)

Alexander Maclaren characterize Ruth's words this way:

Put the sweet figure of the Moabitess beside the heroes of the Book of Judges, and we feel the contrast. But is there anything in its pages more truly heroic than her deed, as she turned her back on the blue hills of Moab, and chose the joyless lot of the widowed companion of a widow aged and poor, in a land of strangers, the enemies of her country and its gods? It is easier far to rush on the spears of the foe, amid the whirl and excitement of battle, than to choose with open eyes so dreary a lifelong path. The gentleness of a true woman covers a courage of the patient, silent sort, which, in its meek steadfastness, is nobler than the contempt of personal danger, which is vulgarly called bravery. It is harder to endure than to strike. The supreme type of heroic, as of all, virtue is Jesus Christ, whose gentleness was the velvet glove on the iron hand of an inflexible will. Of that best kind of heroes there are few brighter examples, even in the annals of the Church which numbers its virgin martyrs by the score, than this sweet figure of Ruth, as the eager vow comes from her young lips, which had already tasted sorrow, and were ready to drink its bitterest cup at the call of duty. She may well teach us to rectify our judgments, and to recognise the quiet heroism of many a modest life of uncomplaining suffering. Her example has a special message to women, and exhorts them to see to it that, in the cultivation of the so-called womanly excellence of gentleness, they do not let it run into weakness, nor, on the other hand, aim at strength, to the loss of meekness. The yielding birch tree, the 'lady of the woods,' bends in all its elastic branches and tossing ringlets of foliage to the wind; but it stands upright after storms that level oaks and pines. God's strength is gentle strength, and ours is like His when it is meek and lowly, like that of the 'strong Son of God.'...

How many hearts, since Ruth spoke her vow, have found in it the words that fitted their love best! How often they have been repeated by quivering lips, and heard as music by loving ears! How solemn, and even awful, is that perennial freshness of words which came hot and broken by tears, from lips that have long ago mouldered into dust! What has made them thus 'enduring for ever,' is that they express most purely the self-sacrifice which is essential to all noble love. The very inmost longing of love is to give itself away to the object beloved. It is not so much a desire to acquire as to bestow, or, rather, the antithesis of giving and receiving melts into one action which has a twofold motion,--one outwards, to give; one inwards, to receive. To love is to give one's self away, therefore all lesser givings are its food and delight; and, when Ruth threw herself on Naomi's withered breast, and sobbed out her passionate resolve, she was speaking the eternal language of love, and claiming Naomi for her own, in the very act of giving herself to Naomi, Human love should be the parent of all self-sacrificing as of all heroic virtues; and in our homes we do not live in love, as we ought, unless it leads us to the daily exercise of self-suppression and surrender, which is not felt to be loss but the natural expression of our love, which it would be a crime against it, and a pain to ourselves, to withhold. If Ruth's temper lived in our families, they would be true 'houses of God' and 'gates of heaven.' (Click)

How did Ruth know Naomi's God ("your God")? Clearly Naomi’s relationship with God had had an impact on Ruth. The application is clear -- Can people look at your life, as Ruth looked at Naomi’s, and say "I want your God to be my God!"?

Our trust in God, and turning towards Him in tough times (as exemplified by Naomi who still blesses/prays for them in the name of Jehovah - Ru 1:8, 9), will often be the very thing that draws others to the Lord. Let’s be the kind of persons who draw others to us, and through our friendship, to our God.

Spurgeon draws out this application

"This was a very brave, outspoken confession of faith. Please to notice that it was made by a woman, a young woman, a poor woman, a widow woman, and a foreigner. Remembering all that, I should think there is no condition of gentleness, or of obscurity, or of poverty, or of sorrow, which should prevent anybody from making an open confession of allegiance to God when faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has been exercised. If that is your experience, then whoever you may be, you will find an opportunity, somewhere or other, of declaring that you are on the Lord’s side." (Click Surgeon's sermon on Ruth 1:16: Deciding for God)

Looking at these events from a slightly different light, the events suggest that ten years of Naomi’s "compromise" in Moab was not accompanied by Ruth confessing the God of Israel. Yet as soon as Naomi says, "I’m going back to the God of Israel and put my fate in His hands" Ruth stands with her. Do you see an application to your own life? If we think we will persuade our friends or relatives to come to Jesus by our compromise, we are mistaken. We may be very sincere, albeit sincerely mistaken. Only a Spirit emboldened stand for Jesus is what we must exhibit.

Spurgeon said

"Ah! you will never win any soul to the right by a compromise with the wrong. It is decision for Christ and his truth that has the greatest power in the family, and the greatest power in the world, too."

Do you have unsaved family members? Most of us do.

The important lesson is to remember that you should not try to coerce or coax them into the kingdom by a watered down or compromised "Christian" message. Don't make the word of Christ, the word of the Cross void (empty) of its life giving power (1Cor 1:17, 18).

Maclaren adds that...

We hear in Ruth's words also that forsaking of all things which is an essential of all true religion. We have said that it was difficult to separate, in the words, the effects of love to Naomi from those of adoption of Naomi's faith. Apparently Ruth's adhesion to the worship of Jehovah was originally due to her love for her mother-in-law. It is in order to be one with her in all things that she says, 'Thy God shall be my God.' And it was because Jehovah was Naomi's God that Ruth chose Him for hers. But whatever the origin of her faith, it was genuine and robust enough to bear the strain of casting Chemosh and the gods of Moab behind her, and setting herself with full purpose of heart to seek the Lord. Abandoning them was digging an impassable gulf between herself and all her past, with its friendships, loves, and habits. She is one of the first, and not the least noble, of the long series of those who 'suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung, that they may win' God for their dearest treasure. We have seen how, in her, human love wrought self-sacrifice. But it was not human love alone that did it. The cord that drew her was twisted of two strands, and her love to Naomi melted into her love of Naomi's God. Blessed they who are drawn to the knowledge and love of the fountain of all love in heaven by the sweetness of the characters of His representatives in their homes, and who feel that they have learned to know God by seeing Him in dear ones, whose tenderness has revealed His, and whose gracious words have spoken of His grace! If Ruth teaches us that we must give up all, in order truly to follow the Lord, the way by which she came to her religion may teach us how great are the possibilities, and consequently the duties, of Christians to the members of their own families. If we had more elder women like Naomi, we should have more younger women like Ruth. (Bolding added) (Click)

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The best-known words of Ruth are most often heard at weddings, even though they were spoken by a grieving young widow to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth said, "Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God" (see  note Ruth 1:16).

Ruth had no legal or cultural responsibility to Naomi, who also was a widow and had no means of support. No one would have blamed Ruth for staying with her own people in Moab where the chances of remarriage were greater.

Naomi even urged Ruth to stay, but Ruth was determined to go with her to Judah, and to follow her God. Ruth's unselfish devotion was considered worthy of praise. Boaz, Ruth's future husband, told her, "It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband . . . . The Lord repay your work" (Ru 2:11, 12-Ru2:11; 12).

Promises spoken at a wedding are full of hope and meaning, but Ruth's words have survived the centuries because of her unwavering commitment to God and a person in need. She points us to the value of loving sacrifice for the Lord, and to His rich blessing on all who give themselves unselfishly to others. —David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread - Committed To Serve)

Choices (Ruth 1:11-18) - A friend once told me: "Joe, I’ve come to realize that my life is not made by the dreams that I dream but by the choices that I make."

Count on it: You will have plenty of choices in life. And usually they boil down to a choice between "What do I want?" and "What’s best for others?"

After their husbands died, Ruth and Orpah were faced with a strategic choice (Ru 1:11-note). Their mother-in-law Naomi told them they should go home. She didn’t want them to feel any obligation to her, in spite of the fact that her loss was far greater. She had lost her own husband and both of her sons.

Orpah and Ruth could either go home and start a new life, or stay with Naomi to help her in a time of great need. They knew very well that the latter choice would probably mean living in a foreign land as widows for the rest of their lives, since few Jewish men would want to marry a foreign woman.

Ruth chose to serve the needs of Naomi rather than to serve herself. Orpah chose to leave Naomi for what she thought would be a better life. Ruth went on to play a significant role in Jewish history and became an ancestor of Jesus (Mt 1:5). (Our Daily Bread - Choices)

Make the best choice. Choose to serve others. —Joe Stowell

Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

The Book of Ruth stands in striking contrast to the Book of Judges, and especially to the last five chapters thereof. The story which it tells illustrates the truth that God has never left Himself without witness. It is an idyll of faith-fulness amid infidelity. It has, moreover, the value of being a link in the chain of history, showing how God moved forward to the central things of His redeeming pur­pose through faithful souls. The choice of Ruth, here recorded, in its devotion and in the very manner in which she expressed it, has become enshrined in the heart of humanity. With constant recurrence her language has been employed to express the fidelity of love. The younger woman found her heart closely knit to the older one, and she declined to be severed from her in the pathway that lay before her, choosing to share whatever the future might have in store for the one upon whom her love was set. While all this is true, it does not touch the deepest note. It is patent that Ruth's love for Naomi was created by the new faith which she had learned from her.

The deepest note in her expression of devotion was: "Thy God, my God." It is a beautiful illustration of how a quiet, strong fidelity to God produces faith in Him on the part of others. Happy indeed are we, if our life is such as to compel some soul to say, "Thy God shall be my God."

Ruth is identifying totally with Naomi, which is a perfect picture of covenant wherein two become one and co-mingle their lives. But remember that commitment comes with a cost.

THUS MAY THE LORD DO TO ME AND WORSE IF ANYTHING BUT DEATH PARTS YOU AND ME:

“thus the Lord will do to me and thus he will add—certainly death will separate me and you.” (NET)

"I ask the Lord to punish me terribly if I do not keep this promise: Only death will separate us" (ICB)

LORD do to me and worse - This is a familiar oath formula  (1Sa 3:17; 25:22; 2Sa 3:9;35 19:13; 1Ki 2:23; 19:2; 20:10; 2Ki 6:31). The speaker calls for a terrible fate to befall someone if the oath is not fulfilled. Ruth therefore pronounces a curse upon herself, elevating the preceding promise to a formal, unconditional level. If she is not faithful to her promise, she agrees to become an object of divine judgment. (Acts 20:24)

Ruth invoked the covenant name of God, Jehovah, for the first and only time in this self-imprecation. Her commitment of no separation even by death may refer to the Israelite custom of burying members of the same family in a family tomb.

Ruth is a good Old Testament illustration of total surrender similar to that seen with the Apostle Paul who said

I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ (see notes Php 3:7; 3:8)

One lesson from this section is that the people of God are spiritually defined. Ruth is a daughter of Moab, an "unnatural branch" (Ro 11:20, 21-note, Ro 11:22, 23, 24 -note) and yet becomes an

heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (He 11:7-note, cp Ga 3:7, 29, Ro 4:11-note, Ro 8:17-note)

Paul emphasized that

he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. (Ro 2:28, 29-notes)

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One of the most delightful and endearing stories in the last decade is Driving Miss Daisy. It’s the story of a friendship that develops over a twenty-to thirty-year period between a man and a woman. What makes the story so touching is that this is a totally improbable relationship! Hoke Colburn is a chauffeur; Daisy Werthan is a woman who does not want a chauffeur. He is black; she is white. He is poor; she is wealthy. He is a Christian; she is Jewish. He is illiterate; she is educated and well-read. He is warm and friendly; she is cold and crotchety. He is “the hired help”; she is “the boss.” And yet by the end of the story, Miss Daisy says, “Hoke, you’re my best friend.”

We may be tempted to dismiss such an unlikely friendship as mere fantasy; yet the Scriptures show us that such relationships are possible. Consider the Old Testament book of Ruth. Despite cultural, religious and generational differences, despite economic hardship, tragedy, and the age-old “in-law” factor, these two women--Ruth and Naomi--developed a close relationship marked by genuine concern. A number of factors contribute to their closeness.

First, they spent a lot of time together (Ru 1:4-note). Good relationships always take time to develop.

WHEN SHE SAW THAT SHE WAS DETERMINED: (Acts 21:14)

"She had made herself strong"

"she is strengthening herself to go with her" (Young's Literal)

"she persisted in,"

"strong in her purpose" (BBE)

"had made up her mind" (NLT)

"she was steadfastly minded" (KJV)

The Hebrew verb for determined means to stiffen one's self firmly upon a thing which pictures Ruth as strong in her resolve and steadfast in her determination not to go back to her own country, but to go forward with Naomi to the degree that nothing could move her from her firm purpose of mind.

Paul when he had counted

all things as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus" (see note Philippians 3:8), determined "one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (see notes Philippians 3:13, 3:14)

Women and men of strength of character are people of determination and focus. May we all be challenged and motivated by their godly examples to be likewise.

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In a devotional from Our Daily Bread we read:

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness --Psalm 107:8-note

One of the most beautiful confessions of love in all of literature is the one Ruth made to Naomi. In vowing to return to Israel with her, Ruth pledged, "Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried" (see note Ruth 1:16-17).

But suppose Naomi had said to herself, "Ruth's just a gold digger. What she really wants is to get into Israel to marry a wealthy Hebrew. I'm just her passport in."

If Naomi had doubted Ruth's good intentions and rejected her kindness, she would have lost out on blessings she never could have imagined.

But that's exactly what we do when we fail to trust God's goodness. We stop believing He will do what is best for us. And as the saying goes, once the well is poisoned, all the water is contaminated.

James 1:16, 17-notes states, "Do not be deceived . . . . Every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father." Once we doubt God's goodness, some of His best gifts--like trials that help us to mature--will seem like bad ones.

Don't doubt God's goodness and poison the wellspring of blessing He has for you. --H W Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Drink deep of God's goodness, His faithfulness too,
Leave no room for doubting and fear;
His Word is the Water of Life pure and true,
Refreshing and cooling and clear. --Hess

We poison the well
when we don't think well of God's goodness.

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Johnstown Flood - Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. —Ruth 1:16

On May 31, 1889, a massive rainstorm filled Lake Conemaugh in Pennsylvania until its dam finally gave way. A wall of water 40 feet high traveling at 40 mph rushed down the valley toward the town of Johnstown. The torrent picked up buildings, animals, and human beings and sent them crashing down the spillway. When the lake had emptied itself, debris covered 30 acres, and 2,209 people were dead.

At first, stunned by the loss of property and loved ones, survivors felt hopeless. But later, community leaders gave speeches about how local industry and homes could be rebuilt. This acted like a healing balm, and the survivors energetically got to work. Johnstown was rebuilt and today is a thriving town with a population of approximately 28,000.

The Bible tells us that when Naomi despaired over the loss of her husband and sons, her daughter-in-law Ruth refused to leave her. Instead, Ruth focused on God, her relationships, and the future. God rewarded her faith by providing for them and making Ruth an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5-16).

After a tragic loss, we should look at the resources and relationships that remain and trust God to use them. This can inspire the hope of rebuilding a new life. — Dennis Fisher (Our Daily Bread - Johnstown Flood)

Beyond the losses of this life
That cause us to despair
New hope is born within our heart
Because our God is there. —D. De Haan

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.

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Spurgeon applies these truths 

"O you dear young friends who want to be Christians, how glad we are when we see that you are steadfastly minded to go with the people of God! There are so many who are quickly hot and quickly cold,—soon excited towards good things, and almost as speedily their ardor cools, and they go back into the world. Do ask the Lord to make you steadfastly minded. This is one of the best frames of mind for any of us to be in."

TO GO WITH HER SHE SAID NO MORE TO HER:

"she ended the conversation." (GWT)

"she stopped urging her" (NIV)

The Hebrew means “she ceased speaking to her” not implying that Naomi was completely silent but that she stopped trying to convince her to go back to Moab.

Biblical Illustrator suggest an application regarding Naomi's actions: