<style type="text/css">
<!--
@page { margin: 0.79in }
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in }
A:link { so-language: zxx }
-->
</style>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">“<b>TWO
ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Jim
& Marie Watt</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Tel:
<a href="tel:253-517-9195" target="_blank">253-517-9195</a> - Email:
<a href="mailto:jmbetter@gmail.com" target="_blank">jmbetter@gmail.com</a></b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Web:
<a href="http://www.2rbetter.org/" target="_blank">www.2rbetter.org</a></b></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">April 9, 2013</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
<br></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
<style type="text/css">
<!--
@page { margin: 0.79in }
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in }
-->
</style>
</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>OCT
17 - JOB 3 - OPENING LAMENTATION</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>1.
3:1 (ESV). JOB: CURSES HIS BIRTH DAY. <font size="3">“After this
Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
we will not judge Job in this, nor follow his example. We do not know
what we would be tempted to do if we were in his position. Maligning
comes naturally to us when we are in deep throes of testing.
</span><b><i>Hallowed be your :name.</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>2.
3:2-3 (3:2-10) JOB: ENLARGES ON THIS. <font size="3">And Job said, </font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1">3
</font><font size="3">“Let the day perish on which I was born, and
the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">Again
we hear Job, Father, yet we refuse to follow at this time. The
bitterness of unfathomable testing was upon him. Did his friends
truly understand his situation? </span><b><i>Your :kingdom come!</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>3.
3:11, 16 (3:11-16) JOB: LAMENTS HIS INFANCY. <font size="3">“Why
did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? </font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1">16
</font><font size="3">Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as
infants who never see the light?” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">O
the bitterness of mysterious suffering! How ill it becomes us to
judge those in the throes of it! </span><b><i>Your :will be done, As
in heaven, so on earth!</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>4.
3:17. JOB: THE STATE OF DEATH. <font size="3">“There the wicked
cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">Righteous
and wicked alike are at rest in death: or at least so Job thought!
Forgive us Father, for concluding that which is beyond our
understanding. How easy to surmise and reason from imperfect
understanding! </span><b><i>Our :daily :bread Give us this day!</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>5.
3:18-19. JOB: THE COMMON STATE OF ALL IN DEATH. <font size="3">“There
the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the
taskmaster. </font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1">19 </font><font size="3">The
small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his
master.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
remind us of Abraham and Lazarus in Sheol (Hades). Job did not have
perfect understanding of this. The righteous in suffering, is better
off than the wicked in blessing (Psalm 73). </span><b><i>And forgive
us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our :debtors.</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>6.
3:23-24 (3:20-24) JOB: LAMENTS ALL MANHOOD. <font size="3">“Why is
light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? </font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1">24
</font><font size="3">For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my
groanings are poured out like water.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">No
chastisement for the present is pleasant - but </span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">afterwards</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">...!
Help us Father, to live in this truth. </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
bring us not into temptation.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">7.
3:25-26. JOB: HIS FEARFUL THOUGHTS FULFILLED. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“For
the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">26
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">I am
not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
</span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
our hearts go out to Job in his trouble, and to him the </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">mystery</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
of his suffering. But our times are in Your hands! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">But
deliver us from the evil </span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">one!</span></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><b>NOTE</b></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>:
</b></span><b><span style="text-decoration:none">Quote from
Benjamin Franklin (Remark during signing of Declaration of
Independence.)</span></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">We
must all hang together, else we shall all hang separately.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
Psalm for the Day: 107:15-16; 23:24 (107) </span><span style="text-decoration:none">LET
THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO! </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Let
them thank the LORD for his steadfast love (CHEsed), for his wondrous
works to the children of man! </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">16
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">For he
shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.”
</span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Thank
You Father, for this evidence of Your grace and Covenant Love! In the
end, You did this for Job too! </span></span><b><span style="text-decoration:none">107:23-24
</span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Some went
down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">24
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">they
saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.”
</span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Mysteries
surround You like clouds, Father. But when we </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">pray</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
and </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">obey</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">,
You reveal Yourself to us. O teach us the simplicity of walking with
You! Teach us that through the </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Atonement</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">,
Jesus settled the “sin” question.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">This
is a choice song for the “redeemed of the Lord” (Vs. 2). Although
it celebrates providential deliverances, and therefore may be sung by
any man whose life has been preserved in time of danger; yet under
cover of this, it mainly magnifies the Lord for spiritual blessings,
of which temporal favors are but types and shadows. The theme is
thanksgiving and the motives for it. The construction of the Psalm is
highly poetical, and merely as a composition it would be hard to
find its compeer among human productions. The bards of the Bible hold
no second place among the sons of song.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">107:2.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Whom He has
redeemed from the hand of the enemy. </span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">What
gratitude can suffice for a deliverance from the power of sin, death,
and hell? In heaven itself there is no sweeter hymn that that whose
burden, is, “You have redeemed us unto God by Your blood.”</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">107:6.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Then they
cried unto the Lord in their trouble. </span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Some
men will never pray till they are half-starved, and for their best
interests it is far better for them to be empty and faint that to be
full and stout-hearted. If hunger brings us to our knees, it is more
useful to us than feasting; if thirst drives us to the fountain, it
is better than the deepest draughts of worldly joys; and if fainting
leads to crying, it is better than the strength of the mighty.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">107:15.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Oh that men
would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works
to the children of men! </span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">The
sight of such goodness makes a right-minded man long to see the Lord
duly honored, for His amazing mercy. When dungeon doors fly open and
chains are snapped, who can refuse to adore the glorious goodness of
the Lord? It makes the heart sick to think of such gracious mercies
remaining unsung: we cannot but plead with men to remember their
obligations and extol the Lord, their God.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">107:24.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And His
wonders in the deep. </span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">All
believers have not the same deep experience; but for wise ends, that
they may do business for Him, </span></span><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">the
Lord sends some of His saints to the sea of soul-trouble, and there
they see, as others do not, the wonders of divine grace. Sailing over
the deeps of inward depravity, the waste waters of poverty, the
billows of persecution, and the rough waves of temptation, they need
God above all others, </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">and
they find Him</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">!</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">107:39.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Again, they
are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and
sorrow. </span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Trials
are of various kinds; here we have three words for affliction, and
there are numbers more: God has many rods, and we have many smarts,
and all because we have many sins. </span></span><b><span style="text-decoration:none">(From
“The Treasury of David” by C.H. Spurgeon, abridged by D.O.
Fuller)</span></b></font></font></p>
<br><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-weight:normal" align="CENTER">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT">
<font size="3"><b>TO
SUBSCRIBE - Please Email: <a href="mailto:mailing-subscribe@2rbetter.org" target="_blank">mailing-subscribe@2rbetter.org</a></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font size="3"><b>TO
UNSUBSCRIBE - Please Email: <a href="mailto:mailing-unsubscribe@2rbetter.org" target="_blank">mailing-unsubscribe@2rbetter.org</a></b></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font size="3"><b>FOR
ARCHIVE ARTICLES - Web:<a href="http://2rbetter.org/pipermail/mailing/" target="_blank">http://2rbetter.org/pipermail/mailing/</a></b></font></p>