A psalm of thanksgiving is a journey from good times through bad and then back to good. This is a psalm I wrote to illustrate the book of Ruth from the perspective of Naomi. Read it as you would a sermon or devotional. May the imagined voice of the Naomi help you find your voice in this season of Thanksgiving as you reflect upon the journey God has brought you through.
The footnotes are to help you through the thought process that went into the language used in the psalm.
Another psalm will be posted on Wednesday, November 24.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Of Naomi.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD
Because the LORD has not forgotten the lowly.
For the LORD has made the bitter pleasant[1] again,
And has caused the barren to be fruitful.[2]
For the pleasant one sought after refuge in Moab,
We asked for food from Eglon[3].
In the foreign land of our enemies,
We looked for support and hope in a time of famine and dismay.
But You, oh LORD, were offended
You, oh LORD, took insult at our actions.
You dealt bitterly with me, leaving me with nothing,[4]
In desperation, I returned in bitterness.
But the LORD is Almighty,
Mighty to save and quick to rescue.
The Almighty has looked and has seen my despair,
In my time of need The LORD provided me with a friend and companion.[5]
Never did the LORD remove His wing of protection[6],
Never has the LORD removed His eye from my life.
When we gleaned, we gleaned in abundance,
When restoration was needed, the LORD provided, and I was made pleasant again.
When the LORD provides, the LORD provides in full,
When the Almighty sows, the fields are never-ending!
The LORD, the Redeemer has sent us a redeemer.
The Almighty has been merciful to the house of Elimelech[7].
The seed of the house of Boaz,
Will sprout a great tree![8]
[6] The imagery in Ruth 2:12 runs parallel to that of Ruth 3:9. The Hebrew word for “wings” in Ruth 2:12 is identical to that of the word for “covering” in 3:9. Ruth indeed does find shelter under the Lord’s wings through Boaz. For Ruth (and essentially Naomi), Yahweh’s wing of refuge finds its shape in the covering of Boaz and Ruth on the threshing floor in Ruth 3.
[7] As the kinsman-redeemer, Boaz provides for the continuance of the line of Naomi’s husband Elimelech and the husband of Ruth.
[8] Boaz is the great great grandfather of King David and therefore a distant ancestor of Jesus the Messiah.