Cast me not away from [T]hy presence; and take not [T]hy[H]oly [S]pirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of [T]hy salvation, and uphold me with [T]hy free [S]pirit. Psalm 51: 11, 12, NRSV.
Dear God, as we enter Your presence, we pray that You will make us willing learners at Your throne of grace, For Christ’s sake; Amen.
Yesterday we meditated upon David’s thirst to be in the courts of the LORD; and his longing for God. But there is no longing, like the longing for fellowship with God, when you feel that something has come between you and God! Today we are going to see him walking through what could be compared to, “the dark night of the soul.”
Although this period is considered one of the “darkest” experiences in the life of a Christian; it is also considered by many, to be a “blessing in disguise!” I do not believe that growth is encouraged in our comfort zones. But many have testified of growth beyond their wildest imagination, after passing through their dark night of the soul. It is at such times that the face of God seems to be hidden from human view.
David was guilty of a double crime. He had Uriah, the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba, murdered. He also committed adultery, with her (2 Samuel 12: 9, 10). This was done, according to his reckoning, in secret. But we know that whatever is done in the darkness will come to light! Apparently David’s sin was known throughout the land. This situation affected the life of his entire family! It seems as if everything went downhill from that moment onward.
The baby born, as a result of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba died (14-19). Amnon, one of his sons, raped his half-sister, Tamar, the sister of Absalom (2 Samuel 13: 10-14). Absalom, to revenge the humiliation of his sister, killed Amnon (28, 29). Absalomthen tries to usurp the kingdom from his father David, and was killed by Joab, the captain of David’s army (15: 14; 18: 14, 15). Adonijah, his son is killed when he tries to sit on the throne of David (1 Kings 2: 24, 25), against the expressed will of his father, that Solomon be made king in his stead.
David had indeed paid with four of his sheep, for the one he had taken from Uriah (2 Samuel 12: 6)! As hard as this was for David; and as a parent, I believe that nothing could be more excruciating, than to lose a child, nothing was more devastating for David than for God ‘s face to be hidden from him! Listen to the burden of his heart and soul: “Cast me not away from [T]hy presence; and take not [T]hy [H]oly [S]pirit from me! Can you hear his pain? Whatever You do LORD, do not hide Your presence from me!
We do not hear him saying, do not destroy me, Lord; or, why my children, LORD? Although I am sure that he would have been willing to die in the place of his children! Nevertheless, his heart-wrenching cry is for God not to leave him! He can bear anything; as long as God is with him! But he is nothing, without the presence of God in his life! David would emerge from this experience and continue to walk with his God, all the days of his life!