DON’T TAKE AWAY YOUR PRESENCE

DON’T TAKE AWAY YOUR PRESENCE

PSA. 51:10-11 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

For those who have tasted the Presence of The Lord, nothing else comes close. It is indescribable yet tangible, it is convicting and at the same time comforting, it brings us to the end of ourselves and at the same time starts our life up again. David had known the joy of the presence of The Lord. He remembered the initial rush of power and joy that flooded his soul when Samuel anointed him with oil. David also reflected on that great day of dancing with all his might as he brought the ark into Jerusalem. David loved the countless times he had lingered in the presence of The Lord at the tabernacle he had pitched on Mount Zion, he couldn’t imagine losing this great blessing in his life. God’s presence was not just a part of his life, it was the one thing that defined his life. William Cowper wrote about this passage in David’s psalm, Cowper also reflected on the tragedy of losing this great blessing in our lives.

“But how is it that he prays, Cast me not out from thy presence? May a man be cast any way from it? Saith he not himself, “What way can I flee from thy presence?” This is soon answered by distinguishing his twofold presence — one in mercy, wherewith he refreshes and comforts his own, and this without intermission they enjoy who are in heaven; another, in wrath, whereby he terrifies and torments without intermission the damned in hell. As to them who are upon the earth, certain it is he is displeased with many, who, because they see not his angry face, regard it not, borne out with temporal recreations of the creature, which will fail them; and there are many, again, to whom he looks as a loving father in Christ, and yet they see not his merciful face by reason of many interjected veils; but to them who once have felt the sweetness of his favorable face it is death to want it.”

Cowper actually took a little different approach to this tragic dilemma. He described the tragedy of coming into the presence of The Lord in a sinful state, he even warned about the possibility of being in that sinful state for eternity, being tormented by the presence of The Lord in a sinful condition.
To the redeemed soul nothing could be more terrifying than to lose the access into God’s presence. Cowper describes the passion in the soul of the Christian who has tasted the presence of The Lord. Though others may settle for the temporal pleasures of the world, those who have tasted of His goodness despise the veils that block them from His presence. Like David, their soul cries out to The Lord, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me”.