Here’s today’s Installment of “The Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit“:
The Spirit in the Books of the Writings
David, the anointed king, saw the Spirit taken from Saul when he sinned and was rejected from being king (cf. 1 Sam 16:13–14). This informs David’s prayer of repentance when he asks that God not take the Spirit from him (Ps 51:11). This request amounts to an appeal that God in his mercy would allow David to continue as king. Since David is the only person in Israel anointed by the Spirit as king (1 Sam 16:13–14 states that when the Spirit came on David the Spirit departed from Saul), this prayer does not indicate that ordinary members of the old covenant remnant were permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The experience of judges and warriors, kings and prophets was unique.
Psalm 104:30 celebrates the work of the Spirit in creation (cf. also Job 33:4), Psalm 106:33 recalls the way God’s people provoked his Spirit by their disobedience, and 139:7 acknowledges the omnipresence of God’s Spirit—there is no place to hide from him (139:7–12). Psalm 143:10 is a prayer that God would lead the Psalmist by the Spirit in paths of righteousness.
Like Joseph, Daniel’s unique ability to interpret dreams results in him being identified as a man in whom is the Spirit (Dan 4:8–9, 18; 5:11, 14). Nehemiah recounts the way that Yahweh gave his Spirit to instruct Israel and admonished them by his Spirit through the prophets (Neh 9:20, 30). The Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of David’s thirty mighty men, empowering him to profess loyalty to David (1 Chron 12:18). The Spirit empowered Azariah to prophesy to Asa (2 Chron 15:1), Jahaziel prophesied when the Spirit came upon him (20:14), and Zechariah the son of Jehoiada was clothed with the Spirit and prophesied (24:20).
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To see all the posts in this series, go to the category “The Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit.”