Ruth 2:13
Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
The book of Ruth is four brief and wonderfully interesting chapters forming a little pastoral tale from the time of the judges that closes with the ancestry of the Lord Jesus, into which a Moabite woman is brought. The verse belongs to the account of Ruth gleaning in Boaz's field. While gleaning there she humbly and gratefully asks Boaz for continued favor, saying that his comforting, kind, friendly and respectful words have encouraged her and made her feel welcomed, though she is not like one of his servant women.
Ruth is held up as an example of a humble, often overlooked worker who gathers scattered sheaves. Gathering even a handful of grain is worthwhile work for God and a model for seeking people who have been missed. The harvest-field of Boaz in Ruth 2:1-23 represents the harvest-field of King Immanuel where souls are reaped for God. Cutting down the grain is the first work of conviction under the law, and binding the sheaves is the next work that must follow.
Loose material and unorganized followers of Christ must be gathered up and bound together in Sabbath-schools, prayer-meetings, missionary associations, and churches. The army of God is to be divided into active companies, regiments, and battalions so that idle troops in reserve are put to work to take the castles of sin. The verse shows the value of noticing strangers and speaking kindly to them, offering comfort and friendly words that reach their hearts.