Day 8/3 – The Spirit Departed

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
The Spirit Departed
Day Two Hundred Fifteen

“And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.’ And he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Judges 16:20

When the Holy Spirit leaves, He does not announce His departure. God endowed Samson, a judge in Israel, with supernatural power. He was secure in his relationship with God and so sure of himself that he thought he could compromise without paying a price. Delilah enticed him into telling her the secret of his strength, and when he went out to engage the enemy as at other times, he supposed nothing had changed. The Spirit had departed and Samson did not even know it, like a ship crossing the sea thinking that her cargo is safely stored below, unaware that there was no cargo.

You can find other biblical illustrations of this, like the Spirit departing the nation of Israel. Our Savior said, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”283 You are never so secure in your relationship with God that you can afford to neglect His will. The more God prospers you the greater your tendency to feel blessed by Him and in turn, the more you will be tempted to believe you can take license with His commands. Remaining prosperous, with all of the accruements of success, and assured that God favors you, the Spirit will depart, as He did with Samson, and you probably will not know it. You can only ensure continued fellowship with God via His Spirit by remaining His broken and obedient servant.

283 Matthew 21:43

———/://///

Psalm 63-65 Romans 6 (New King James Version)

Psalm 63-65
Joy in the Fellowship of God
A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5
My soul shall be satisfied as with [a]marrow and [b]fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6
When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9
But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10
They shall [c]fall by the sword;
They shall be [d]a portion for jackals.
11
But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64
Hear my voice, O God, in my [e]meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4
That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5
They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
They say, “Who will see them?”
6
They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8
So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
All who see them shall flee away.
9
All men shall fear,
And shall declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10
The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65
Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [f]vow shall be performed.
2
O You who hear prayer,
To You all flesh will come.
3
Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will provide atonement for them.
4
Blessed is the man You choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5
By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6
Who established the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power;
7
You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples.
8
They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [g]rejoice.
9
You [h]visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it;
The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10
You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11
You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12
They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13
The pastures are clothed with flocks;
The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
Footnotes:
• Psalm 63:5 Lit. fat
• Psalm 63:5 Abundance
• Psalm 63:10 Lit. pour him out by the hand of the sword
• Psalm 63:10 Prey
• Psalm 64:1 complaint
• Psalm 65:1 A promised deed
• Psalm 65:8 shout for joy
• Psalm 65:9 give attention to

Romans 6
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be [a]done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been [b]freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, [c]reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as [d]instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were [e]delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness [f]for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit [g]to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [h]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
• Romans 6:6 rendered inoperative
• Romans 6:7 cleared
• Romans 6:11 consider
• Romans 6:13 Or weapons
• Romans 6:17 entrusted
• Romans 6:19 unto sanctification
• Romans 6:22 unto sanctification
• Romans 6:23 free gift