One of the most difficult aspects of suffering is the feeling that God is far from us.

We assume that loneliness, cancer, the death of a loved one, and other forms of suffering are evidence of God's indifference

or his anger.

However, the Book of Ruth reminds us of God's faithful love in the midst of suffering.

Welcome to the Radical with David Platt podcast,

the latest sermons from teacher, author,

and pastor David Platt delivered weekly. And as always, you can find thousands of more free resources at

radical dot net including free discussion questions on today's sermon.

Well, in today's message from Ruth Chapter 1, David Platt encourages us to trust in the

God who sovereignly works all things for the good of his people.

Here's David with a sermon titled The Mystery of Mercy for Ruth Chapter 1.

If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite you to open with me to Ruth, chapter 1.

This morning, we began a journey through one of the most moving stories in all of scripture.

It has all the elements of a love story.

Tragedy, lost, despair, triumph, hope, loyalty, romance,

you have no need to take your wife to a chick flick during the month of July.

A gentleman just bring them to worship and that will suffice. But it's not just a love story.

It's spread out of four chapters of scripture. It's a story within a story. A story a part of a much greater story of which we too are a part. It's a story within a grand epic tale of redemption, a tale of how God is redeeming a people for himself, bringing

them from despair to delight, from hurt to hope. And you and I find ourselves in the middle of that story.

Now as we approach the Book of Ruth,

we've got a couple of challenges before us.

First is the challenge of... of

...