"No Hopeless Future: Expositions on the Book of Ruth" by Dale Ralph Davis. A Review.

 

The biblical book of Ruth is a short, gritty, witty, and chancy little work. Four chapters full of grief and questions, risk and surprises. Then Dale Ralph Davis, one time professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary and pastor, comes along and adds to the adventure of Ruth a 96-page paperback, "No Hopeless Future: Expositions on the Book of Ruth." The title succinctly announces the focus of Davis's work and the message of Ruth. Together the reader should walk away confirmed in the recognition that "God takes common and complicated circumstances in the lives of his people and makes them contribute to the coming of his kingdom in this world" (pg. 95).

The chapters are Davis's sermons on Ruth from when he was pastoring Woodland Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi several years ago. A teenage young man heard those sermons, and then years later, while a Major in the United States Marine Corps, found the audio recordings and transcribed them for the whole world to have. Thank you, Major Timothy Burnam!

"No Hopeless Future" takes all four chapters of Ruth and works through them thoughtfully, without loading readers down with technical details. Davis shows how the story moves in a focused, intentional direction, though the story is cluttered with real-life drama, pain, worries, doubts, and uncertainties. And yet, through it all, "Yahweh is working, even though it seems very low-key" (pg. 84). And his low-key work is shown in "famine, and triple grief, and destitution, and the conversion of a Moabite girl, and barley fields, and threshing floors, and courtrooms, and the wail of little Obed coming out of the nursery, all of it, was the way God was in the process of establishing his kingdom on earth" (pg. 94). This is a teeny volume everyone should obtain and read.

Why should you bother getting the book? First and foremost, the material is deeply devotional. Maybe not a liturgical breviary, but rather a biblical breviary to bring you closer to God. And especially if you are walking through the valley as dark as death. What Christian, while wading through sorrow, doesn't need to be reminded that frequently, "in and with affliction, Yahweh provides the means of easing the affliction - yet this is not seen at the time. We just don't see it because we're blind to it" (pg. 26). What believer, while thrashing over their decisions in perilous times, doesn't need to recall that believing "in sovereign providence does not stifle but stimulates human action! (...) God's sovereignty doesn't crush my activity. It invites it" (pg. 53). What child of God, nearly drowning in the Slough of Despond, doesn't need to call to mind - again and again - the pattern of Ruth "in which the attention always comes back to Naomi" implying that "she is never absent from Yahweh's mind. Naomi is never forgotten. She is ever and always the focus of Yahweh's attentions...Faith can scarcely imagine the intensity of God's care" (pg. 92). Davis walks his readers right back into the warm embrace of the God of Naomi and Ruth!

"No Hopeless Future" is a perfect purchase for pastors and Bible teachers. Ideal for a women's Bible study, and a men's reading group. First-rate, even, for family worship with mom, dad, and kids/grandkids, all huddled around reading the story and Davis's insights together. But, dear friends, don't remain satisfied with just reading the author's work. Run with the author to meet this God of Naomi, Ruth, Boaz and Dale Ralph Davis, who is "both interesting and gracious in providing for his people" (pg. 32). I happily and heartily recommend the book. 

My thanks to Christian Focus Publishing for sending me a review copy, which I used for this assessment. They made no demands, other than to share my analysis, which I now freely give to you.