“Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.” (Psalms 38:21)
It’s thought that David wrote this psalm during a time of repentance and a time of waiting for restoration. He begins the psalm with the caption, “A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.” He wanted to remember the way he felt in the position of repentance. He wanted to remember the physical, mental and emotional repercussions of his sin and the Lord’s parting.
Any child of God who has a great fall may well be familiar with David’s description. David did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but he knew God’s presence and anointing. He knew that the Lord had departed from him. When a child of God with the indwelling Holy Spirit falls, he not only will feel the same as David, but will also carry the grieving of the Holy Spirit within. Will the Holy Spirit leave? The New Testament never mentions anything like that. But it does mention grieving the Holy Spirit. Do not think that when we commit a “little sin” in our man-made hierarchy of sin, we don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. To God sin is sin. It’s all death. It’s all a product of rebellion. It all comes from the flesh and influenced by the devil.
In Ephesians 4, Paul writes about the new life. He writes don’t walk like the Gentiles who are so apathetic that sin doesn’t bother them at all. Then he writes in verse 22 to put off the old man. That phrase means to put it away, cast it off or lay it down. Then he explains how to do it. “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;” (Ephesians 4:23) What he is saying is that the Holy Spirit is telling your mind the godly way to live. He is influencing you so that you will do what is godly. Then he instructs them. “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24) In the next 6 verses Paul writes the things to stop doing, then he writes, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) He is in us, goes with us wherever we go, hears us and is witness to all the things we do.
Stephen gave a speech of God working in His people when he was brought before the council. Then he says, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:51) In Paul’s final instructions to the Thessalonians in his first letter to them, he writes, “Quench not the Spirit.” (1Thessalonians 5:19) The Holy Spirit can be grieved. He can be resisted. And He can be quenched, meaning extinguished in the Greek. This is what happens when we sin, when we make a decision to follow our flesh, that old man with his desires. It’s the old self that died on the cross. “ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:6)
David couldn’t resist his flesh and sinned. That sinful man in the spirit was crucified because in the spirit realm, God sees the end from the beginning. God saw David’s old man crucified with Jesus. But here on earth, Jesus hadn’t come yet. The old sinful man ruled in David. And he sinned. But praise God. Jesus has come. Our old sinful man has been crucified. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling. We don’t have to serve sin. We are not guided by the sinful man, but by the Holy Spirit. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. The Lord has made provision to cleanse our conscience of sin that has already been forgiven. (1John 1:9) We can always have fellowship with the Lord. When we sin, we may feel like David, but the Holy Spirit, though He was resisted, though he was quenched and grieved, is there to guide us through the mess we made to restore us. He will never leave us. (Hebrews 13:5)
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