Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Talk about a verse to discuss for this topic! How have I went for over 5 years of blogs considering this topic, and yet not addressed this seemingly obvious verse.
Some general background may be beneficial. David is the author, and he has fallen hard. Fallen into sin that includes, adultery and murder. Confession didn’t come immediately, but when it did, amazingly forgiveness was granted.
2 Samuel 12:13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Capital offences according the the covenant of God! When Nathan speaks of David and death, he is speaking of the Law of God demanding the offender to die.
Adultery demands death.
Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Murder demands death.
Exodus 21:14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
David should die. He should die for either one of these offenses! The Law demanded death! Nathan delivered to David God’s reprieve of physical death, of the Lord putting away his sin. David would experience trouble in his family, but he would not be put to death. David would live.
David realized this physical judgement mirrored his spiritual life. Though the judgement of physical death had been taken from him, he understood the spiritual death he was wallowing in presented a much greater danger.
Over and over again, in different ways and with different phrases, David looked to God for forgiveness beyond the physical in this psalm.
Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, purge me with hyssop, wash me, hide Your face from my sins, blot out all my iniquities.
He openly confessed his sin and sought from God the forgiveness he needed to experience and posses his spiritual life. He had been released from physical death. He would live, but he was desperate to live!
Eventually he begged God to not take away the Holy Spirit from him. He needed a new heart! A clean heart.
What a man of God!
He realized his complete poverty before God and openly confessed his total lack of ability to make things right, to be right with God. He knew the Spirit of God had been taken from Saul, and now it looked like he was heading down the same path of self destruction, being abandoned by God due to sin.
Of course, as an OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) adherent, I would reject any connection to David or Saul, or any Old Testament saint who spoke of the Holy Spirit being taken from them, as being applicable for the New Testament saint.
We have many verses in the New Testament speaking of the faithfulness of God to the believer, of His never leaving us, of His constant ministry in our lives. The New Testament is replete with describing God’s commitment to the believer.
Hebrews 13:5 … he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Matthew 28:20 …I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
John 10:28 …no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Ephesians 4:30 ….you were sealed for the day of redemption
Romans 11:29 …the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
The faithfulness of God is described in the New Testament to the believer, and for that we are to be ever so thankful.
But consider.
Does the faithfulness of God somehow guarantee our faithfulness to Him? Are they one and the same? For God to be faithful, as He is, describes God’s faithfulness. Should we be of such boldness to assume we are as faithful as He? We are a weak, crippled people, and though we have been given a new heart, and the Spirit of God has come to abide with us, we are but jars of clay. He is the light and we are but dust. Though He is able to provide strength, we must not assume we are without responsibility in our relationship with the Almighty God. Our lives are to exhibit a humility and godly fear before Him, not assuming on the promises of God, and ignoring our part in the relationship with the Master!
David and us
- Does the New Testament believer and David have the same God?
- Of course! He is faithful!
- Does the New Testament believer and David possess the same covenant?
- Of course not. We have such a deeper and greater covenant with Him, by the blood of the Lamb.
- Does the New Testament believer and David share in the sinfulness of a darkened, deceitful heart?
- Of course! We are not faithful to God by our very nature!
- Does the New Testament believer and David struggle with sin, causing pain and grief to the Lord?
- Of course! Let us not deceive ourselves, thinking we are of any better stock than the man after God’s own heart! We have a much greater understanding and covenant with God, but we are on our own, weak, poor and blind.
Let us learn from this passage, not some implied connection between David’s experience and a possible experience of the New Testament believer. That will be debated by believers until He comes back.
No, the lesson is that as David reacted to his sin before God in this psalm, we should also react to our sin before Him, from a heart of sorrow, out of a need for His grace, sensing a desperation for God, desperate to be created anew!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
Your message has been sent
Considering the Bible 