Hi Duane,
Thank you for sharing this. Yes, even though the Holy Spirit is mentioned at times with "character traits", such as "do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" and "It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ", which makes it sound as this is an active being, it is really just a way of speech.
From Isaiah 63:10 for example:
Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he (who, the Holy Spirit? No their "Redeemer from of old - The LORD") turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
Barnes' commentary on the Bible:
His Holy Spirit - The Chaldee renders this, 'But they were unwilling to obey, and they irritated (provoked, blasphemed רגז râgaz) against the words of the prophets.' But the reference seems rather to be to the Spirit of God that renewed, comforted, enlightened, and sanctified them. Grotius, Rosenmuller, and Gesenius, suppose that this means God himself - a Spirit of holiness. But, with the revelation of the New Testament before us, we cannot well doubt that the real reference here is to the third person of the Trinity - the renewer and sanctifier of the people of God. It may be admitted, perhaps, that the ancient Hebrews would refer this to God himself, and that their views of the offices of the different persons in the divine nature were not very clearly marked, or very distinct. But this does not prove that the real reference may not have been to 'the Holy Spirit.' The renewer and sanctifier of the human heart at all times has been the same.
In other words, even though it actually, according to Barnes, says something which does not point to a third person in the Trinity, this 'doesn't prove that the real reference may not have been to 'the Holy Spirit''. Well, the real reference actually IS to the Holy Spirit, but it's HIS Holy Spirit, not THE Holy Spirit.
Just a question to think about: How many are actually praying to the Holy Spirit which should be possible if the Holy Spirit is God? I've never heard anyone doing that.
God bless you,
Eirik