Unlike in the current Church Age or Dispensation in which the Holy Spirit is given to all believers to indwell us and seal us in God's salvation when a person trusts with the heart in God's Son the Lord Jesus Christ believers of God's chosen earthly people the Israelites or the people of the nations that believed in the God of Israel could lose the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament with God working out His relationship with His chosen earthly people Israel the Holy Spirit was given to men or women of God to carry out some act of service to God. If an Israelite or person of the nations that joined to them was unfaithful to God and discredited his or her service to God they could lose God's Holy Spirit with them. One area of service to God among the Israelites for which the Holy Spirit sometimes came upon a person, especially that were faithful to God, was the role of king of Israel. Because of his unfaithfulness to God king Saul did lose the presence of God through His Holy Spirit. King David was probably worried the same would happen to him when he committed adultery with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of the key fighters in his army, and then had Uriah killed by ordering that he be put in the most dangerous part of the fighting where he was killed. Unfortunately this verse is heavily used in some sections of Christendom to say that Christians, God's chosen heavenly people, can also lose the Holy Spirit because of sin even though the New Testament is clear that all true Christians are sealed by the Holy Spirit that wasn't true for Israelite believers under the Law of Moses in the Old Testament days. The scripture reference from Psalm 51 of King David requesting to God not to take His Presence through His Holy Spirit away because of his sin probably associated in David's mind with his role as King of Israel is as follows:
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Psalm 51:9-12
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