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His Spirit

              Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:12)

Then Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” (Exodus 33:15)

The verse in Psalm 51 is part of David’s plea to God after he was confronted about his affair with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. The verse in Exodus is Moses’s plea to God after the people of Israel had made and worshipped the golden calf. When I first glanced at David’s words this morning, I wasn’t sure whether the spirit that David wanted to be willing was his or God’s. I checked the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament[1], and it claimed the reference was to the Spirit, and I read the verse in context, which clearly agreed. Then Moses’s parallel prayer came to mind.

Keeping in mind that David knew Saul had lost the throne because of his sins and that the penalty for his sins was death for both him and Bathsheba, we might be tempted to ask why David waited until Nathan cornered him to do something about it. That question takes me back to Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve hid from God and Genesis 4, when Cain lied to God. Sin not only separates us from God, it also seems to separate us from ourselves and reality. Denial is a powerful and at least sometimes, an unconscious defense mechanism.

Because God was patient, and gave David time to repent on his own, David seems to have gotten it into his head that God didn’t notice, didn’t care, or overlooked it because kings get greater license in their personal lives. None of it makes sense, but how often do we come up with equally lame excuses for why we should get a pass on whatever we’ve done or are doing? And when we do this, the Spirit is grieved and may withdraw. It’s not that the Spirit can not be somewhere or everywhere, but that we pretend He isn’t there. And when we face that fact, we need to re-establish the connection. Sometimes it can be a request. Other times, we need to get stubborn and insist that we won’t go if He doesn’t. That way, we keep our focus on His presence for a little longer.


[1] No, I am not the titular Keil, but yes, I did purchase the commentary because of the name.

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