Psa 51:11 | NETfull | STEP | Do not reject me! Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me!

Psalms 51:11

11 Do not reject me! ^{▼▼ Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”}
Do not take your Holy Spirit ^{▼▼ Your Holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10–11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”} away from me! ^{▼▼ Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13–14).}