Cast me not away from thy presence
As abominable; as a vessel in which he had no pleasure; with
indignation and wrath; as one that is angry with another, cannot
bear him in his sight, but bids him be gone from him. Nothing is
more desirable to a child of God than the presence of God; and
nothing gives him more sensible pain than his absence; and even
to be deprived of or denied the means of enjoying his presence
the word and ordinances, makes them very uneasy: to be utterly,
and for ever deprived of it, is the case of the damned in hell,
and is the punishment of loss they sustain; and, on the other
hand, the happiness of the saints in heaven is to enjoy it
without interruption. The people of God are never cast away from
his favour, or out of his heart's love; but they may for a while
be without his gracious presence, or not see his face, nor have
the light of his countenance, nor sensible communion with him,
which is here deprecated. David might call to mind the case of
Cain, ( Genesis 4:14
Genesis
4:16 ) ; or rather the more recent one of Saul, whom the Lord
rejected, and from whom he departed upon his sinning, and which
he might fear would be his case, ( 1 Samuel
28:15 ) ;
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me;
or "the Spirit of thine holiness"; the third Person in the
Trinity; so called, not because this epithet of "holy" is
peculiar to him; for it is used also of the Father, and of the
Son, ( John
17:11 ) ( Psalms 16:10
) ; but because he is equally holy with them, and is the author
of holiness in his people, which is therefore called the
sanctification of the Spirit, ( 1 Peter 1:2 ) ; and
without whom David knew that purity and holiness of heart and
spirit he had desired could not be renewed and increased in him;
and therefore deprecates the taking of him away; which shows that
he was not as yet removed from him, not with standing he had
fallen into great sins; and his sense of sin, and confession of
it, and his fervent application for pardoning grace, and purity
of heart, abundantly prove it. The Spirit of God is a gift of
his, which is without repentance, and where he once is as a
spirit of regeneration and sanctification, he ever abides: his
external gifts may be taken away; but internal grace is an
incorruptible seed, and always continues. By sin the Spirit of
God may be grieved, so as to withdraw his gracious influences,
and his powerful operations may not be felt; and this is what is
here deprecated. The Targum interprets this of the spirit of
prophecy which David had, by which he composed psalms and songs
prophetic of Christ, and of Gospel times, and which was not taken
away from him; see ( 2 Samuel
23:1 2 Samuel
23:2 ) .