Past Commentary by a Common Terry
A little more about David & Psalm 51
September 6, 2026
I’m about done with all these thoughts and ponderings about King David and, in the last couple of weeks, the great psalm of repentance he wrote (Psalm 51).
What was David afraid of? He faced enemies for years and years, beginning with the giant Goliath to near the end of his life. He fought multiple battles against the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. He faced a rebellion led by Saul’s son as soon as he was made king. His own son, Absalom, tried to take the throne from him. Before he even became king, he was a fugitive among the people because of King Saul’s hatred. He faced them all and God gave him the victory, one after the other.
But what he couldn’t face and wouldn’t be able to defeat with his own power and might was the thought or the very real possibility of losing the Presence of God.
Verse 11—Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. To lose the Presence of God was to lose everything. The reason he was the conquering warrior was because of the Presence of God. When he ran toward Goliath, he shouted, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” (I Samuel 17:44-45)
When he wrote a psalm of praise to God near the end of his life, which became Psalm 18 (also found in II Samuel 22), he was filled with gratitude because God delivered him from the hands of his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. The psalm began, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” (II Samuel 22:2-4 and Psalm 18:2-3)
When he succumbed to the temptation of Bathsheba, it led him to the violation of three of the Ten Commandments: he coveted another man’s wife, he committed adultery, and he had Uriah killed in battle so he could take her. It was only when the fearless prophet Nathan painted a picture of a wicked rich man, taking what wasn’t his and abusing his power, provoking King David to anger and harsh judgment, that he realized the magnitude of risk and loss he traded for his own pleasure and selfishness. Nathan, with one of the bravest single lines uttered by any prophet, said, “You are the man!” (II Samuel 12:7)
This led to David’s humility and the confrontation he had to have with his own guilt. This led to his repentance. “I have sinned against the LORD.” (II Samuel 12:13) He not only committed these horrific sins, but used the very power God gave him as king to carry them out. The son Bathsheba bore him died because of his sin. He finally realized that there was no sin worth the cost of losing the Presence of the God.
Nothing can separate us from God. Paul wrote that in Romans 8. He listed so many threats the Christians might face at the hands of their Roman enemies. But, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that…[none of these things]… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
What does cause a breach in the relationship between us and God is sin that isn’t addressed. The Presence of God diminishes. His Spirit, while still in us, cannot move as He would wish: “...your iniquities have made a separation between you and God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
Repentance is more than an apology or a regret. It is the understanding of what is at stake. There is nothing on this planet, nothing the enemy can offer us, that is worth the tradeoff. David’s ultimate goal in his repentance was the restoration of his relationship to the One that makes everything possible, not just his military victories, but the defeat of sin and its guilt.
Sin is a part of life. Repentance, forgiveness, and restoration to God is true life. Nothing else will ultimately matter.
What was David afraid of? He faced enemies for years and years, beginning with the giant Goliath to near the end of his life. He fought multiple battles against the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. He faced a rebellion led by Saul’s son as soon as he was made king. His own son, Absalom, tried to take the throne from him. Before he even became king, he was a fugitive among the people because of King Saul’s hatred. He faced them all and God gave him the victory, one after the other.
But what he couldn’t face and wouldn’t be able to defeat with his own power and might was the thought or the very real possibility of losing the Presence of God.
Verse 11—Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. To lose the Presence of God was to lose everything. The reason he was the conquering warrior was because of the Presence of God. When he ran toward Goliath, he shouted, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” (I Samuel 17:44-45)
When he wrote a psalm of praise to God near the end of his life, which became Psalm 18 (also found in II Samuel 22), he was filled with gratitude because God delivered him from the hands of his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. The psalm began, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” (II Samuel 22:2-4 and Psalm 18:2-3)
When he succumbed to the temptation of Bathsheba, it led him to the violation of three of the Ten Commandments: he coveted another man’s wife, he committed adultery, and he had Uriah killed in battle so he could take her. It was only when the fearless prophet Nathan painted a picture of a wicked rich man, taking what wasn’t his and abusing his power, provoking King David to anger and harsh judgment, that he realized the magnitude of risk and loss he traded for his own pleasure and selfishness. Nathan, with one of the bravest single lines uttered by any prophet, said, “You are the man!” (II Samuel 12:7)
This led to David’s humility and the confrontation he had to have with his own guilt. This led to his repentance. “I have sinned against the LORD.” (II Samuel 12:13) He not only committed these horrific sins, but used the very power God gave him as king to carry them out. The son Bathsheba bore him died because of his sin. He finally realized that there was no sin worth the cost of losing the Presence of the God.
Nothing can separate us from God. Paul wrote that in Romans 8. He listed so many threats the Christians might face at the hands of their Roman enemies. But, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that…[none of these things]… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
What does cause a breach in the relationship between us and God is sin that isn’t addressed. The Presence of God diminishes. His Spirit, while still in us, cannot move as He would wish: “...your iniquities have made a separation between you and God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
Repentance is more than an apology or a regret. It is the understanding of what is at stake. There is nothing on this planet, nothing the enemy can offer us, that is worth the tradeoff. David’s ultimate goal in his repentance was the restoration of his relationship to the One that makes everything possible, not just his military victories, but the defeat of sin and its guilt.
Sin is a part of life. Repentance, forgiveness, and restoration to God is true life. Nothing else will ultimately matter.