Psalms 51:11

Context

51:11 Do not reject me!¹

Do not take your Holy Spirit² away from me!³

Psalms 86:12-13

Context

86:12 O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart!

I will honor your name continually!⁴

86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me,⁵

and will deliver my life⁶ from the depths of Sheol.⁷

Psalms 86:2

Context

86:2 Protect me,⁸ for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Psalms 7:14-15

Context

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ⁹

7:15 he digs a pit¹⁰

and then falls into the hole he has made.¹¹

[51:11] ¹tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”

[51:11] ²sn 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.”

[51:11] ³sn 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).

[86:12] ⁴tn Or “forever.”

[86:13] ⁵tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”

[86:13] ⁶tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.

[86:13] ⁷tn Or “lower Sheol.”

[86:2] ⁸tn Heb “my life.”

[7:14] ⁹tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[7:15] ¹⁰tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15] ¹¹tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.