against him, and he describes their tongue as being as sharp as a serpent's against him. As we move to verses six and seven, we see David's response to these persecutions. Namely, he goes to the Lord for mercy. Verse six, I say to the Lord, you are my God. Give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, oh Lord. One of the great privileges of being a son of God is access to God through Jesus Christ. and David makes great use of this privilege. He continues his prayer in verse 7 as he reflects now on how God has delivered him in the past. He remembers what God has done for him in the past, and this helps sustain him in the present. He says, oh Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Again, David had experienced God's deliverance and his preservation before on multiple occasions, and he uses those experiences of grace as an anchor in his time of trouble. Moving now to verses eight through 11, we see David's prayer shifting again, this time changing from petitions regarding his own deliverance and preservation to prayers focused on the frustration of his enemies. And David asks in verse eight that their desires and their evil plot might be opposed by God. Verse nine, that their lies might come back upon their own heads, that their lies might come back to bite them, as it were. In verse 10, that they might be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise. In other words, David is asking here that his enemies would be prevented from doing any more harm than they had already done. In verse 11, David asks that they may not be established in the land. Well, finally, looking to verses 12 and 13, we see David end his prayer by expressing his confidence that the Lord will protect those who are his. The Lord will execute justice and that the Lord will cause his people to dwell in his presence, both in this life and in the life to come. Well, by way of application for all of you who are in Christ, I want to drive home to you that you will, in this life, in this fallen, sinful world, you will experience persecutions. To one degree or another, you will experience the slander of evil men, of arrogant men against you. And I'm reminded of what we read in 1 Peter where he says, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange has happened to you. So in light of this truth, the question then is how are you going to respond when this persecution and slander comes upon you? What is the right response when this happens to us? How are we to respond when evil men, violent men, arrogant men plan evil things against you in their heart? How should you respond when they, verse three, make their tongue sharp as a serpent's against you? Or verse five, hide traps and snares for you. What is the appropriate Christian response to persecution and slander? Well, firstly, I would say to you that you should remind yourself that you're in good company. They did the same to the Lord Jesus himself. And if they persecuted Christ, if they slandered Christ, we need not be surprised when they do the same to you and me who are seeking to follow after Christ. So firstly, you're in good company. But secondly, and perhaps more practically, go to the Lord in prayer. Think about how powerful and resourceful David was. If any time there was just a normal man apart from Christ who could seemingly accomplish anything, was it not David? He was wise, he was strong, he had resources. But despite all of this, his greatest weapon I would submit to you as he battled against his persecutors was prayer. His greatest strength in that sense then was his own weakness and his own dependence upon God for deliverance, which he so often expressed in his prayers that are captured for us in the Psalms. So as we encounter persecution and slander, let us also take up prayer as our first and greatest weapon against our enemies. Third and finally, I would encourage you to pray with great hope and confidence. I would encourage you specifically, look to verse 12 in our Psalm, and know for certain that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted. Know for certain that the Lord will execute justice for the needy. On the day of judgment, you can make no mistake about it, the Lord will distribute to every person what they are due according to their deeds. And In this life, if the Lord in his infinite wisdom and goodness and love as we've just heard towards us, if the Lord determines in this life not to bring justice upon the persecutors and the slanderers of his people, we must leave it with God, and we must do so with a confidence that on the last day, justice will be done, knowing for certain that the unrepentant evildoer will, as we read in verse 10, be cast into the fire, into miry pits, no more to rise. And you'll remember that at the end of the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five, the Lord Jesus teaches his disciples, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. And brothers and sisters, when trials come upon you, when evil men persecute you or slander you, have the mind of Christ. As we read in verse 13, give thanks to the Lord, knowing that soon, very soon, sooner than you and I can possibly imagine, the day will be upon us before we even know it. All the troubles, all the trials of this present life will fade away and you will dwell in the presence of the Lord forever. That's the greatest comfort I can give you this morning. One minister summarized it this way, quote, considering this truth, you should therefore never lose heart under the most trying dispensations. You shall have mercy by the way and glory in the end. The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. He will guide you with his counsel until he receives you to glory. Cheer up then, never lose heart, lift up your head, your redemption draws near. but that's not true for everyone under the sound of my voice. For those of you who are outside of Christ, if you remain in your current condition, if you do not repent, if you do not turn by faith to the crucified and risen Savior, you can know for certain, not the comforts that I just spoke to the people of God, but you can know for certain that your end will be with those who are cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise. But I want you also to know for certain this morning that the Lord Jesus Christ stands ready to receive any sinner who would come to him in repentance and faith. And so I would ask you this morning, if you are outside of Christ, if you are on the fence, At the gate of life, what I would ask you is to choose your way this morning. Which way will you go? Will you remain unrepentant? Will you remain hardened in your sins? Will you remain doomed to the miry pits, no more to rise? Or will you say with David in verse six, you are my God, give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, oh Lord. And I promise you, if you call out to him for mercy, he will answer you. He will answer you. The God who cannot lie says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that you will be saved. That is not a lie. Children, that's not a lie. God promises that. We can trust him when he says that to us. And sometimes we may find ourselves wondering, how do I become a Christian? I want to become a Christian, but how do I do that? We can overcomplicate things sometimes, and certainly we want to be sure that our heart is right before the Lord. But the Bible says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Do you know that you're a sinner? Do you know that apart from Christ, you are doomed to the miry pits, no more to rise at the day of judgment? If you know that that is you, then turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and he will receive you. Don't overcomplicate it. Choose your way this morning. Will you remain unrepentant? Will you be content to be cast into the fiery, doomed to the miry pits, no more to rise? Or will you repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith? Today is the day of salvation, is what the Bible says. If you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. You may not have this grace again tomorrow. Remember that Esau sought repentance with tears, but could not find it. So if the Lord is working in your heart this morning, turn to Christ by faith. If you're able, stand with me for the reading of God's holy word. Psalm 140. Hear the word of God. To the choir master, a Psalm of David. Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah. Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from violent men who have planned to trip up my feet. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net. Beside the way they have set snares for me, Selah. I say to the Lord, you are my God. Give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord. O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. Do not further their evil plot or they will be exalted, Selah. As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them. Let burning coals fall upon them. Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise. Let not the slanderer be established in the land. Let evil hunt down the violent man speedily. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and will execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name. The upright shall dwell in your presence. Amen. May God bless the reading of his holy and infallible word.