I'm with you (Ruth and Naomi) - Nichole Nordeman - Amy Grant (Lyrics)

A song of Music Inspired by The Story CD (http://www.thestorycd.com/)
Lyrics: Nichole Nordeman
Music: Bernie Herms
Singers: Nichole Nordeman & Amy Grant

Video & Subtitle:   / youthforgodvn  
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Interview with Nichole Nordeman

*** Please describe the message behind the song “I’m With You.”

We’ve all heard the sentimental cliché: Our lives are tapestries. We only see the back side of the masterpiece, the loose thread, the stops and starts of knotted mistakes. But never fear! God is weaving with a view from the front. Super. Sewing imagery does nothing for me. Once in desperation, I tried to superglue a button on my son’s shirt. But cliché or not, it’s true. We can’t imagine what God is doing behind the scenes. On my worst days, I feel compelled to remind Him that I’ll be expecting a lengthy explanation on the other side of the veil. On my best days, I get to see tiny glimpses of what He is… well… weaving--a brief snapshot of beauty and understanding. Then, poof! More loose thread.

And I think of Ruth, who by all means, should have walked through the door marked “do over” that her mother-in-law held open for her. I would have. Dr. Phil and I would have told her to move on. I would have used terms like “closure” and “new chapter”--Ruth 2.0. Understanding, if barely, that something larger than herself was at work, she was drawn to stay at Naomi’s side--drawn to her God. This God would ultimately set her path toward a new home on foreign soil and a miraculous encounter with a new husband who redeemed her life and gave her a son, Obed. Obed gave us Jesse. Jesse gave us David. And 28 generations worth of unsightly loose threads later, the portrait of baby Jesus emerges. Faithful. Resolute. Unwavering. Humble. Ruth never knew, of course, how her faithfulness to Naomi helped bring us a Savior. But He always did.

*** Which Bible verses go with the message of the song?

Ruth 1:16: But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
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ruth naomi, i'm with you lyrics video, i'm with you lyrics ruth and Naomi, nichole nordeman, amy grant
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*** What's the takeaway message for listeners regarding the song?

In that famous passage Ruth 1:16 where Ruth says, “Your people will be my people and your God my God,” that always struck me as interesting, and I always thought that Ruth and Naomi worshiped the same God. In Randy’s writing about Ruth, he pointed out that when tragedy struck and Naomi released her to stay in Moab, Ruth didn’t worship Yahweh. She worshiped a Moabite deity, not the One True God. You’d think she’d want to return to what was familiar to her, including her religion. She not only committed to stay with Naomi out of solidarity and faithfulness to her mother-in-law, but she also wanted to follow Naomi’s God. That says something to me about the life that Naomi led in front of Ruth. She must have set a great example and Ruth must have seen something about Naomi’s faith that made her willing to risk everything safe and familiar to follow Yahweh. That was new information for me. I had already thought Ruth was on board with Yahweh. That inspires me to want to witness for Christ in a way like Naomi that makes people want to know Him and follow Him.

“At their refusal to say goodbye, Naomi countered with the impracticality, even impossibility, of their experiencing a life of joy and security with her. Her reference is to the OT practice of levirate marriage, whereby the brother of a deceased (and childless) man marries the widow in order to raise up an heir for the deceased. But since in this case there were no more brothers, nor prospects for more, Naomi insisted that the two young women seek marriage in their homeland. The author of this book expresses his theology through the speeches of his characters. Naomi's ‘The Lord's hand has gone out against me!’ reflects the main theological motif of the book; with Yahweh, there is no such thing as happenstance.

“There is nothing in the text that leads us to condemn Orpah for obeying her mother-in-law. Instead, the text contrasts her with Ruth to heighten the surpassing love and commitment of Ruth. One simply chose ‘to become a wife again, the other to remain a daughter.’ Ruth's expression of devotion has become classic. Her decision to be buried in Naomi's homeland reflects a commitment of life itself. Even in death, Ruth will never abandon Naomi.”

Source: http://www.newreleasetoday.com/