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[0:00] I truly appreciate everyone's prayers during the season. So yeah, last Saturday, July 3rd, I was involved in a car accident and got rear-ended and thrown into the truck ahead of me.

[0:14] And so I got beat up pretty good. We'll see, the doctor doesn't want me doing too much. So that's why I'm sitting on a chair and everything.

[0:25] And everyone, I mean, the executive pastor's in Europe. So I mean, what am I gonna do? So we're gonna make it today, all right? And so I have a message from God's word today for you.

[0:35] And we're gonna be turning to Psalm 62. And before we do, I just want to let you know that if I fumble a word or two, you know, we do have stones outside.

[0:48] Just don't throw them at me. Have grace with me right now. I suffered from a concussion and whiplash just about a week ago. So I don't just have grace on me.

[1:01] But fortunately, mornings have been significantly better. As the day goes on, you start seeing my mental train just starts like pausing. And I feel like I'm like in the Alzheimer's ward of a nursing home, just like, what am I doing?

[1:16] And so that happened regardless of the accident. The accident intensified that a little bit. So have grace with me. We're gonna dive into God's word. It might not be a perfect exposition of God's word, but we are going to be challenged and encouraged by his word today.

[1:33] And that we will do right now. So turn to Psalm 62. And just a couple introductory thoughts regarding this psalm.

[1:46] I want you to think about, as we begin, that there is significance in an unequivocal power that a single tongue, that little thing in our mouths, a single tongue can have upon drawing a response of a crowd or piercing the emotional state of others.

[2:09] It's literally profound. James 3 hits very much so upon this aspect of the tongue, the power of the tongue.

[2:20] It says in James 3, 5. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts in great things. James continues about talking about it's like a bit in a horse's mouth that guides.

[2:35] You know that piece of metal in the horse, which you use to go left or right or stop? It's a bit in a horse, horse's mouth that guides. It's the rudder, the small rudder that has the power of turning a massive ship.

[2:51] It's the small fire that sets a forest ablaze. The tongue has significant power over others. We could probably recall various famous speeches of history because there's a number of famous speeches that have lifted the hearts of others during dark times, offered hope and despair, refined characters, inspired bravery, encouraged weary, the weary honored the dead, and changed the course of history.

[3:24] Two various speeches that come to mind. The first one is from Winston Churchill. Back in 1940, he had a speech known as, We Shall Fight on the Beaches.

[3:37] And Winston Churchill, aside from anything, he is one of the greatest orators of the 20th century, Winston Churchill. He could make me probably jump off of a bridge, and I'd just go diving off.

[3:53] And that was all despite his speech impediments the whole time. He had a strong, he had a reassuring voice. And so when he spoke about the message, the message about the speech, We Shall Fight on the Beaches, he spoke before the House of Commons that encouraged Britain during the darkest times of battle, during the Battle of France, back in the 1940s.

[4:20] And then just a couple weeks later, he had another speech called the Finest Hour speech. And that was after the fall of Paris, which meant to bring hope in the dark hour during these times of war and uncertainty.

[4:34] The other one that stands out in my mind, the famous speeches, is that of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. I have a dream. You could just hear it hands down.

[4:45] This is one of the greatest in American history, I believe. Martin Luther King is set apart by his king's charisma, his tone, his skills of rhetoric, and his passion.

[4:58] And just to think, a century after slavery ended, and when African Americans were promised full equality, still black children were spit on in the streets.

[5:08] Black people were not allowed to enter restaurants, certain restaurants in the 60s. And they were segregated on buses. They were stripped of human dignity.

[5:20] And Martin Luther King delivered a clear and compelling message of hope. And many look back on that time as a dawning of a new day. Martin Luther King, I have a dream.

[5:32] Some of the most profound classical benchmarks of any speech that sticks out in our mind usually has a certain style to it, number one.

[5:42] It has a certain substance, number two. And it also has sort of like an impact in number three. So it's arranged in its style. It has a focused theme in its substance.

[5:53] And it has a response that it's intending to draw to impact its hearers. Now, I believe that we could probably raise our hand and probably name a number of speeches that I haven't named.

[6:06] But we could probably recollect many noteworthy speeches. And I am sure that you could probably recall numerous other public addresses from political figures.

[6:19] Maybe the locker room time when the team's losing by a whole lot and the coach is trying to raise a team in despair in the locker room.

[6:30] Or maybe just a sermon that sticks with you that you've revisited multiple times. These three benchmarks of style, substance, and impact provoke the artistry in public speaking, provoking the reverberation of any speech that we may recall.

[6:49] All because of the power of the tongue. The power of the tongue. Now, however, the issue that we often face, me, and I believe everyone who is on the face of the planet, is that we often misuse the power of the tongue.

[7:13] And sometimes we can stylistically be intact. We can have all the arrangement in the words. We can have a captivating tone. We can make Brent jump off a bridge. Perfect, right?

[7:24] Perfect style, perfect delivery, but lacking substance. Having corrupt and sinful substance which yields corrupt and sinful fruit in action.

[7:35] There's a saying that's known as loose lips sink ships. And isn't that the truth? Thank you. We've got a witness in here.

[7:46] It is at this point today that it would be appropriate for us as Youngstown Metro Church to drop into Psalm 62. We see the power of the tongue.

[7:57] We can almost feel it if we think back to those speeches. And just like any speech in a public address, a locker room, or a sermon, David is carefully preparing to address the people in Psalm 62 in a time when David's character was under siege.

[8:17] With that in mind, David is not simply preparing a speech. He is preparing his heart. This is the process of any preacher that's in a pulpit.

[8:28] It should be. The weekly process is preparing not speeches or a sermon, exposition. It's preparing your heart. And in so doing, to give his people a sword or a mirror.

[8:43] It's one or the other to give them a sword for battle or a mirror for reflection, fully aware of the impact of his words. So let's drop into Psalm 62 and enter into David's preparation time in his kingly chamber, we'll put it, and allow ourselves to be commanded to adopt a similar attitude and affection to God.

[9:08] Please join me in prayer as we begin to dissect the word of God today in Psalm 62. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this gathering.

[9:21] We rejoice at the sound of Jesus' name because Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.

[9:36] Father, this reality should never lose its wonder. Let every person in this room, sinner and saint, who know you, who may not know you, let them experience that truth today.

[9:54] Mighty hand of God, strengthen me for your saints to be edified and sinners be justified.

[10:05] In all of this, that you be glorified. Holy Spirit, help me today and open all of our hearts to your word. We praise in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm gonna break this up into three different sections, but I have one single point and we'll get into that in about the third section.

[10:28] The first section that we see in Psalm 62 is a time of preparation. So any note takers, this can be observed as a time of preparation.

[10:41] David gives us insight to two different truths in his circumstance. The first truth we find in verse 1 through 2.

[10:53] He says, For God alone, my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

[11:05] I shall not be greatly shaken. Obviously, there's not too much to observe with David's situation, but there is much to observe regarding his disposition.

[11:20] We know one thing. We don't know what he's facing at this point in the verse, but we know one thing. David's lips are shut. His mouth is shut.

[11:33] Meaning that David is silent because he acknowledges that he cannot save himself. He knows that by the opening verses, which requires him to shut up.

[11:48] Simply put. And verse 2 says, Not only do we not observe, we don't observe much regarding his situation, but we see the disposition, but we also learn and reinforce the conviction that keeps David's silence, that keeps his mouth shut.

[12:06] He says that God alone is his rock, his savior, his fortress. For that, he is not greatly shaken.

[12:17] So notice, David's tongue is not his rock. David's tongue is not his salvation. David's tongue is not his fortress.

[12:35] And notice also that David, to a degree, David can be uneasily shaken. But the reality of this truth protects him from being greatly shaken.

[12:49] And what I'm trying to say is that we see something about his shakenness, his condition, that he can't be greatly shaken. So his situation, whatever that may be at this point, he can't be greatly shaken, but that still means that at this point, he might lose a little bit of sleep regarding his situation.

[13:05] That's all I'm trying to have us see in this truth, this first truth today. And so let's get into the second truth. We see his disposition in the first truth and who God is.

[13:16] We see a second truth regarding his situation. In verse 3, it says, How long will all of you attack a man to batter him? Like a leaning wall, a tottering fence, they will plan to thrust him down from his high position.

[13:31] They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah. Clearly, there is a group of people unwilling to share the same sentiment of conviction in who God is in their life.

[13:48] Their mouth is their salvation. Their God is not their rock, their salvation. God is not their fortress. They are the ones taking vengeance in their own hands.

[14:00] And so in verse 3 and 4, we meet an unknown group of people that people are on an attack for David, attempting to thrust him down from his high position, relating it to a leaning wall or a tottering fence.

[14:15] And not only that, these people love to bear false witness. Notice that they take pleasure in falsehood. That's different than actually committing falsehood.

[14:28] That's a yearning for falsehood. This is sinful, habitual behavior. They bless and curse with the same tongue.

[14:40] They're the lukewarm Christians that are spoken about in Revelation. They're the southern hospitality where you find somebody that you despise and you say, oh, bless their heart.

[14:54] Right? All the while you're figuring out how to push them off that bridge that Brent just flew over. Right? Imagine the situation that David is facing here.

[15:06] In his kingly chamber, there's a situation where the crowd outside is waiting to hear from him. They are hearing all of this backlash from his enemies of who David is and all of what he's done.

[15:22] You can sense and feel that pressure, couldn't you? Knowing that you have a group of people that are waiting to hear from you. This is David's situation.

[15:33] And so David stops at this moment after having his mouth shut saying who God is, saying who his enemies are, his situation. He lays it all on the table and then he pauses.

[15:49] Selah. A moment of reflection upon these two truths. Because David is in quite a threatening situation, which is why this is clearly a psalm for anyone who feels threatened or endangered.

[16:03] Because David at this point felt like an endangered species. If you recall, standing next to Pontius Pilate was a similar situation.

[16:16] Said all God's people, crucify him. Crucify him. As the bloodstained man stands there next to Pilate. To finish him.

[16:31] An apparent attack. A leaning and tottering man named Jesus Christ. And towards David, a similar illusion may be assessed of his opponents of how they're treating him.

[16:45] But at this moment, I think if any one of us were in this situation, we probably wouldn't handle it like David. Let's be real. In our sinful flesh, we would most likely win the day in complete and utter retaliation and self-vindication.

[17:03] Not silence. We'd be very vocal. Let's be honest with ourselves. In these situations, who is actually the one tottering?

[17:14] Who is actually the one on a leaning fence? Consider the words of Charles Spurgeon in some colorful, humorous imagery. He says on this passage here, boastful persecutors bulge and swell in pride, but they're only as a bulging wall ready to fall in a heap.

[17:37] They lean forward to seize their prey, but is only as a tottering fence inclines to the earth upon which it will soon lie at length.

[17:49] You kind of get his sentiment there? Saying, who's actually the leaning wall? Because you have a group full of boastful, prideful people who take pleasure in falsehood.

[18:02] And at the moment they attack God's servant, they fall. You see, when the tongue of our accusers is clearly in malicious attack mode, the only evidence of a person's faith in God is simply to allow God to absorb the accusations.

[18:19] They don't belong and they're not directed to us. If we're obeying God and his voice and being obedient to him, they are directly related to God and he absorbs that. He absorbs our pain. And simply to remain silent in those situations, true vengeance rests in the hands of God.

[18:36] I gotta ask you church, is God your salvation today? After this Salem moment in David's preparation, a time when some of us would completely fall for the fallacy of executing our own vengeance towards our enemies, I'd be in the king's chamber probably sharpening my sword, quite honestly, and I know a lot of us would probably have the same initial reaction.

[19:04] But David returns after this moment of reflection, after this Selah, and he makes a choice. Look at the choice he's made. Does David choose an eye for an eye, or does he turn the cheek?

[19:19] Let's look in verse 5. For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

[19:32] He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory.

[19:47] My mighty rock, my refuge is God. Isn't it amazing? The equal power of the tongue, but the equal power of a Selah moment of just shutting up, reflecting upon who God is, and letting that dictate our response.

[20:13] Not only does David reiterate the truth about God, he expands on it. You'll see a lot of similarities between verse 5 to 7 with 1 and 2, but he doesn't just reiterate the truth, there's similarities, but he also expands this verse in verse 5.

[20:30] Verse 5 is basically the same, with a few commas, I believe, for emphasis as I tried to draw out as I just read. Verse 6 is basically the same, but he removed an adjective.

[20:42] Before, he said, I will not be greatly shaken. After his Selah moment of focusing on who God is, guess what? David will not be shaken.

[20:53] Or in plain terms, he's not going to lose sleep over this situation, church. And verse 7 is basically also the same, but he added an adjective. Not only God is his rock, God is his mighty rock.

[21:11] Something happened in this Selah moment that is significant. And verse 7 added emphasis. Not only God is his protector, which was the theme of verse 1 and 2, but now he's not only his protector, but he is David's glory.

[21:28] There was nothing about glory before. So in other words, after a time of reflection and preparing his heart, David hears the people outside of his chamber. He knows he has to prepare himself to go address his people.

[21:41] He feels the tension. He wants to lash out in vengeance. He wants to just level his enemy so that he can go about in his way to follow the Lord.

[21:52] And so after preparing his heart, David previously was found in quiet. He was hiding to reflect. And now it's a time for him to rise up.

[22:03] His situation is no longer even shaking him. He will not be shaken. And all due to the God who saves being a mighty rock. And this is not just any foundation, but a mighty, this is a deep seeded foundation that cannot be moved.

[22:21] It could probably go to the center of the earth. It is so founded and so secure. It is a time for David to come out of hiding. David has reflected.

[22:33] He has come up with an initiative to guide his people now. And as he allows his trust in God to be the source of his glory in life.

[22:47] You see, just like with any speech, you have your styles. You can be, David could be stylistically perfect, but the substance before the Salem moment probably wouldn't have glorified God.

[22:59] So he's got the substance now. Let's watch the impact. In this momentous time of preparation and reflection, David makes his way out of the kingly chamber at this point, down the hallway and out to the balcony where the people are gathered, eagerly awaiting their orders.

[23:20] Probably shouting, what's next, David? What do you want us to do? And we see in the second section, simply the moment. He yells out to them.

[23:35] Trust in him at all times, oh people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.

[23:49] Selah. Selah. God has won the day because he has won David's heart. This man of great influence that probably could have turned an entire people group against his enemies for him, God has captured his heart.

[24:12] In a moment that had potentially would have destroyed his accusers, to retaliate in vengeance. There is a time to keep your lips shut and there's a time to open them.

[24:26] And kind of looking back to the introduction, as any noteworthy speeches of yesterday, the substance makes all the difference. And here we have that substance. You see, the substance for God's people this day, during this situation in David's life of accusation, is not to rise to action, but to rest in truth.

[24:49] There's a time to rise to action, and there's another time to rest in the truth. Wisdom is knowing the difference. Now I'd imagine if we were in this situation, I already said that, but we may have already departed at this point.

[25:05] We probably would miss, if we were out in the gathering under the balcony waiting for David, we'd probably be like, forget this, time's wasting, let's go guys, let's go. And you know, there's Brent off in the horizon, you could see his silhouette with his sword in the air, I'll fight for you David, right?

[25:21] That's what most of us usually do. We don't pause, we don't reflect, we don't take time for that. But here's the thing church, the truth is that responding with vengeance in the face of injustice accomplishes nothing, nothing.

[25:42] it is selfish. It accomplishes nothing other than momentary pleasure, similar to the pleasure of the falsehood of people who are bearing false witness.

[25:56] God calls his people to pour out their hearts unto him, before even considering pouring out their wrath upon others. and it might feel good, but it is momentary.

[26:08] It is momentary and accomplishes nothing. And guess what church, worst of all, God doesn't get the glory from that, right? Church, before our wrath be poured out upon our enemies, we ought to spend significant time pouring out our hearts to God, because he is still our refuge, still our fortress, our salvation.

[26:34] Now to paint a little picture, kind of jumping from that culture until today, kind of looking through that contextual window, we live in a world of vengeance against injustice.

[26:49] I don't know if you just climbed out of your hole this morning, you've been kind of hibernating and cut the cord from the TV, but there's a lot going on in the world, there's a lot going on in this city.

[27:03] There's a lot of vengeance against injustice. I mean, if you spend enough time with your TV on, glued to that TV, getting all your truth from the news stations and your Bible shut, you will be trained unknowingly in the way of the world.

[27:21] A message like this probably offends you this morning, as it should, because maybe your TV is on too much with your Bible shut. there's a town, a city called Chicago, and I've been learning a lot about Chicago, and the high fatality rates of gang shootings and murders, and everything that's usually going on in Chicago, Youngstown is called Little Chicago.

[27:56] Anybody from Youngstown know about that little phraseology? It's known as Little Chicago, and that's why. Because back when the steel industry was booming and the mob and everything, there was a lot of political corruption during those days, and the same was going on in Chicago, and it was almost a reflection of what was going on in Youngstown.

[28:19] And so, mobs were rising up there, mobs were rising here, and usually it was the same behavior. But clearly, we should understand something. Because of all these years, you can look on the statistics later of the murder rates in both of our cities, and all the cities around the nation.

[28:36] You should clearly see that when we're in charge of retaliation, it doesn't accomplish anything. When we take vengeance into our own hands, it just creates a cycle of additional vengeance.

[28:56] Youngstown also, I don't know if you know, has 17 sustainable development goals. They're all in colorful print, actually, on a wall down here on Baldwin Avenue, or maybe this is the concussion speaking, but over by Culture House Coffee, you'll see a wall of little icons.

[29:13] It's the 17 sustainable development goals. It's not unique to Youngstown. It's all over the country. It's like a secular way of improving the city. And they have things about ending poverty, good things, ending hunger, and increasing the quality of education, and life on the lands.

[29:30] But similar to seeking vengeance, all of these things, while they may appear good, they are 17 theological problems. You see?

[29:43] Vengeance, the statistics, and the rates of murder all across the country are theological problems. of not understanding vengeance. The sustainable goals for the city, great.

[29:57] Let's end poverty. But it's a theological problem. And you cannot solve theological problems with secular solutions. You can't. It'll fall completely short. You know, often folks ask me, who are into the news and everything, will you be speaking about the racial unrest, the rise of violence, right?

[30:19] And any other social justice issue, that is called and named on the news, and I tell them that I do each and every Sunday. And guess what?

[30:30] That doesn't only end in Sunday. Every discipleship opportunity that I'm hitting the streets, I'm proclaiming a message that is not encouraging racial injustice, that's not encouraging this unrest.

[30:50] It actually fights against it. It's all about the gospel, folks. It's all about the gospel. Vengeance was never intended to fall upon our responsibility.

[31:01] This is not part of God's design. And I pray that the world hears the gospel before they kill themselves, right? The gospel is the solution.

[31:13] It's not a cop-out. People will say, oh yeah, Jesus is the answer. Woo! That means nothing to me because I'd rather go and pop somebody who murdered my friend, right? They don't want to hear about Jesus.

[31:24] It's not a cop-out. It's truly the solution if only we can build that bridge to communicate it properly. Jesus Christ, think about it, was the recipient of vengeance and retaliation.

[31:38] He was the recipient of the greatest vengeance and retaliation. In fact, he did not only absorb that pain and humiliation, he absorbed his own wrath.

[31:51] God, he took upon his own wrath upon the cross to suffer for us an atoning sacrifice. It included sacrifice for our forgiveness, for you and me.

[32:04] And when we are faced with injustice, we should turn no further than the cross of the one who suffered the greatest and pour out our hearts to God as David is instructing his people wisely, knowing when to speak, knowing when to be quiet.

[32:21] And often, this will alleviate any need for pulling a trigger. You see, you're going to see several churches around Youngstown who have partnered together many denominations, which church signs will say stop the violence.

[32:38] Churches are coming together in Youngstown. we are one of the many. And we are encouraging the community to stop the violence because we are acknowledging the only solution to peace on the streets is surrender unto Jesus Christ alone.

[32:57] And so Youngstown and Chicago, for all I'm concerned, need just one sustainable development goal. It's Jesus Christ. in order for that to occur, we cannot simply fill our seats within a building, we have to fill the streets.

[33:12] It's not 1940s anymore, folks, I don't know if you've gotten that clue. We can have our door open all week long, no one's going to walk through it. We can't be just filling the seats, we have to fill the streets.

[33:24] And so we see the substance delivered within David's situation, we see the substance delivered in our situation, let's see what this action causes in the last section, and then we'll be closing up today.

[33:40] Because just as it was for the gathered people under that balcony that day, so it is for our gathering right here, right now. And so we have a time of perspective and response.

[33:57] Verse 9 continues after his pause, his Selah. He continues to say, those of lowly estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion.

[34:12] That's a great verse by the way. In the balances they go up, they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in exhortation, set no hope, vain hopes in robbery.

[34:24] If riches increase, set not your heart on them. So in other words, David is simply saying that this life, it doesn't last forever. We should stop treating it as it does.

[34:36] And that our status means absolutely nothing, or the amount of money in our bank account, the great things that we have in our house, it means nothing.

[34:47] It has no eternal value. It's here today and it's gone tomorrow. So we should know something that our hope is not just in a man back in David's time being David.

[34:58] It's not a man in our time of 2021, but the man who is within both of the times, and that is God. And that is in our situation based on progressive revelation, it rests in Jesus Christ.

[35:12] It points us to the cross. In other words, David is simply saying in verse 9, there may be honored observed. Obviously, if you're a president, you might have more protection going on the streets than a preacher, simply saying.

[35:26] There's more honor attached to some levels of offices or professions, but a proper perspective will see that any glory received on earth belongs to God alone.

[35:38] And then we see in verse 10, additionally, any evil that our flesh focuses on that feels good and it seems right to carry out justice and vengeance on our own ought not to be our focus.

[35:51] It means nothing. If only us thick headed people could get this straight. Thinking back to earlier in the passage, just as David rested in God's protection despite man's accusations, so too he is now resting not only in his protection but also God's glory despite man's affirmations.

[36:13] Church, this is truly hitting on our struggle with selfishness. This is all about selfishness. this is not picking up our sword but being quick to pick up the mirror, be quick to pick up God's word to remind us.

[36:36] Now truth be told, I cannot fathom the struggle. Maybe there's somebody on this live stream even that they have their victims of injustice of their child was murdered in the streets.

[36:49] And I can't fathom the struggle of some of these families, the victims of these injustices. I can't even begin to even cusp the surface of that. I mean the amount of time, if you could imagine me writing Psalm 62, I'd probably have Selah, Selah, Selah, and maybe a couple more Selahs down.

[37:13] I'd probably name the Psalm Selah. but I might be the worst of us here. You understand? So just know that I'm not trying to minimize the issues of injustice.

[37:29] Because I understand very clearly, and I'm going to try not to get choked up on this, but with every murder of a child, there's a mother who's left without their child that they raised.

[37:42] Or a father. with every bullet shell that lies in the street of Youngstown, or anywhere in this nation, that was headed towards somebody and killed somebody, has a story of pain attached to it.

[37:58] So we cannot expect an impersonal solution or approach to help this. We have to get in the living room of these victims.

[38:09] Do you understand now why I'm saying we can't just fill the seats. We have to fill the streets. The only antidote to cure the infection of sin is the gospel.

[38:25] And we all want justice amid injustice. I believe that this is part of the image of God. Just as man and woman were created in the image of God, I believe the yearning for justice is in that because God is the one who serves justice.

[38:42] So being image bearers, we experience that tension. But it's wisdom to know that justice always lies in God's hands. And the cross is the promise that justice once was served in Jesus Christ alone and will be fully served also in Jesus Christ alone.

[38:59] And he's not going to come as a little baby. He's going to come with fire in his eyes, with a bloodstained robe. love. You want justice?

[39:11] You will have it in Jesus Christ. And I know it's easier said than done, but that problem, but that doesn't discredit the objective truth of the nature of this theological problem of vengeance or sustainable you-who goals, whatever they want to do.

[39:28] This is one theological problem, what you do with Jesus Christ. Christ. And so David concludes, as we'll conclude today, his song with a simple emphasis and phrase that we ought to place upon the mantle of our lives.

[39:41] If you're thinking about a scripture to get a tattoo on your arm or something, this would be a good choice after today's sermon. Verse 11 says, Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God.

[39:58] And that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you will render to a man according to his work. Justice.

[40:12] We could close the book on that. Do you see in verse 11, he revisits the oratory truth that David reiterated earlier in the verses.

[40:27] Basically how he said the same thing twice, the first time it wasn't as expounded upon. But it was saying the same thing about God. It was the same God. So once God has spoken, and twice has David heard this, that power belongs to God.

[40:43] And within the singular truth that is being experienced in David's life, protection, vindication, and vengeance, all are rooted in God's love towards David. It's a directed, very personal love that God has for David.

[40:56] And he will see David through to make sure justice is served. And all justice rests in the hands of God in verse 12. We are merely byproducts of evil and sin stirred up by Satan himself.

[41:11] Satan wants to make us blinded of God's love. Satan wants to make us blinded of God's justice, I believe, to pull the trigger on each other.

[41:24] But don't fall into Satan's trap of vengeance. Fall into the arms of God and trust wherever you have the influence. And this should challenge us to think before we speak.

[41:37] Create boundaries from those toxic people that may be coming in your mind like, you know, I should probably not listen to their advice. They clearly have Fox News on or CNN on and they don't got their Bibles open.

[41:50] Maybe it might be wise to cut those people, keep them at a little bit of a distance because they are toxic. Maybe that might be a way to respond to this, to help us think before we speak, to make just accusations in the mirror before trying to communicate just accusations towards others.

[42:08] Cling to the cross of injustice of Jesus Christ when we experience injustice. Trust that vengeance rests in the hands of God, church, and we have to be okay with that.

[42:21] Amen? Amen? If God's word tells us that we have to be okay with this, it doesn't matter our opinion, it doesn't matter our feeling, and that's not to minimize the situation, it's to bring perspective of the situation.

[42:36] If God's word says this, it is true and it is good. Amen? So according to James 3, within your hands, within your mouth, there's a little thing that flaps around.

[42:50] within your mouth rests the power of limitless evil, according to James, and full of deadly poison, within all of your mouths, within my mouth.

[43:02] Or, it contains limitless grace and full of life-giving power, according to David's testimony.

[43:13] God's word says every injustice in this life will provide us two roads. One will be of self-exaltation, the other one will be of God-exaltation.

[43:24] Through David's influence in life, he provided an example of the worthy road to travel, of which we are reminded of in Psalm 62 today. So you two have similar influence in your life.

[43:37] It may be minor, it may be major. You could be the president of the United States, you could be a kindergarten school teacher. All of our influence is unique, it's diverse, but it is ordained.

[43:52] It's not by any mistake that you are planted where you are. And so, how will you see and guide those under your influence in that break room?

[44:04] Joshua 24, 14 says to God's people, choose this day whom you shall serve. And then he goes upon ways that you can do that.

[44:15] Put away idols, destroy your idols, starve your pride. And so we have to, as well, pick up that choice to grapple with our sin, to destroy our idols and our lives, to make boundaries of toxic people, to starve your pride today, and leave it all at the foot of the cross and be won over by the gospel that has won over you.

[44:39] Amen? So let the gospel win over your marriage. That is always an area of influence. Or your relationship with your children. Or even your singleness.

[44:50] Let your influence be resounding in the gospel. When you go to work with your coworkers, yeah, you have two choices. You can join in in the gossip and the issues all that are counterproductive.

[45:05] They don't point to a solution. They kind of just kind of fan that flame of issues. You can join into that or you can make a difference and be like, guys, I heard this message from my pastor today or yesterday or earlier in the week or last week or the week before.

[45:22] And really, we're not doing anything that's glorifying God right now. They make a difference. You have influence with your neighbors. Or maybe if you're in a situation like me, reckless drivers that decide to rear-end you.

[45:37] You all have influence. How are you using that influence? Each church member of this body at Youngstown Metro Church here and now, regular attendees, first comers, or church members have an opportunity to define the gospel or to distort it, and I'm included in that as well.

[45:57] If you are not in Christ today, maybe you're not a Christian, do I need to say anything more about Jesus, about the hope that is in Christ alone, and the benefits that we have when we cling to the cross of Jesus Christ?

[46:13] Do I need to say anything to get you better acquainted with this mighty fortress, this mighty rock in salvation? So just trust in him today, guys. You hearing this message should not be coincidental today.

[46:26] God saw it that you be sitting right here right now to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and the good news thereof, the substance of this message, to impact you, to cause us all to respond.

[46:38] You can say amen all you want today, but if we don't actually do something about it, why are we here? Right? Amen? Just say amen for that. Apart from Jesus Christ, you live in a sinful, rebellious state.

[46:53] This is true. So repent of your sin and turn toward the living and true God. He is calling you this morning. If you're sitting there, yeah, I guess I haven't put my faith in Jesus Christ, but it's definitely making sense and I need to give my life to Jesus Christ.

[47:09] What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Turn to Jesus Christ today. Believe in who he is, that he died the death that you deserve and suffered the consequence for sin so that you can be free.

[47:24] You can be forgiven and pardoned. And that's justice. Let's pray. Thank you.