Cast me not away from your presence; and take not they Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of my salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
"Create in me a clean heart."
"for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 2 Cor. 10:7
"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23
Renew a right spirit within me.
The Hebrew word for right in this verse is "kuwn" which is translated "right" 5 times in the Bible, but more often (143 times) it is translated prepared or established.
Our spirit is not to be tossed by the winds of circumstance or emotion, but established and prepared by the Spirit of God. Renew a steadfast spirit in me.
"Cast me not away from your presence: and take not your Holy Spirit from me."
I am not so sure that God casts us away as much as He casts our sin from His presence. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." However, we throw ourselves over a precipice, when we grapple to hold onto our sin while His ourstetched hand is calling to rescue us from hell and the grave. We've all seen movies where a character perishes clutching onto some ill gotten treasure, while the main character is calling out to him, "Grab my hand!"
"Restore unto me the joy of my salvation"
In 1 Peter this joy is described as "joy unspeakable full of glory." Last night I watched a movie where 2 injured soldiers were stranded in the wilderness of Afghanistan surrounded by enemies and waiting for certain death when against all odds they are found and rescued by chopper. Tears of joy ran down their dirt caked faces as they embraced each other in relief and euphoric laughter. This is a taste of the joy of salvation.
Uphold me with your free Spirit.
The word free here means willing, noble, princely.
"And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy left him."
This is the willing spirit that upholds us.
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