“You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 (NASB)
I was standing at the sink the other day washing vegetables, my mind wandering through a series of “What ifs.” I’d been seeking direction on something and now that God had given it, I had to be sure that all the bases were covered. “Well, what if this happens?” and “What if that happens? Then what?”
My mind had no problem figuring out all the scenarios in which this would not work. As I handled the vegetables, gazing out the window from time to time, I could feel my peace leaving as I pondered this thing. And suddenly, one word breezed into my soul: cling.
I love that word. It holds such power. When I think of it, I picture God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, in the early days when Moses was still their leader. God in His grace was giving them instruction before they entered the Promised Land as to how to prosper and be a light to other nations. He told them, “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him” (Deut. 13:4).
Joshua was there that day and soon replaced Moses as Israel’s leader. He led them into the Promised Land, fought great battles with God’s divine help, and before he died, reminded Israel of that one word: “But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day” (Joshua 23:8). The word was also in the mind of David, Israel’s great king, when he said, “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:8).
But things went awry with the nation of Israel; they weren’t prospering, because they weren’t clinging. By the days of the prophet Jeremiah, hundreds of years later, most of the tribes of Israel had been taken captive by Assyria as a result of sin against God. The ones remaining, the southern kingdom of Judah, were on the brink of captivity as well. Still, God in His grace sent them a prophet, Jeremiah, to try to turn them away from sin.
One day, God directed Jeremiah to buy a linen waistband and put it around his waist (Jeremiah 13:1). Next the Lord had him hide it in the crevice of a rock, then retrieve it again, only to find it ruined and worthless. It was a picture of God’s people who refused to listen to Him and as a result, had become as worthless as the waistband. “‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they did not listen.’” The southern kingdom was taken captive by Babylon not long after.
God hasn’t changed. He still desires His people to cling to Him. When I heard the word in my head that day at the sink, I saw the image I always see when I’m reminded of it—my arms flung tight around the waist of the Father, no space between us. No space for doubt, no space for worry, no space for disobedience.
If I could only stay that way every moment of every day! Can we purpose together in our hearts and pray that when doubt comes, we will cling? When worry comes, we will cling. When other voices invade our heads and try to move us off course, including our own, we will forsake them and cling, listening to God’s voice alone. When the slightest temptation to sin comes, we will cling. There is no better place, no safer place, no other place where we can truly prosper than in His bosom. Clinging.
Father, may Your grace and strength be abundant in our lives, empowering us to keep the affirmations above. Help us to follow You and fear You, to keep Your commandments, to listen to Your voice, serve You, and cling to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
