Dear Friend,

David was the first in a long line of spiritual clingers. Listen to the testimony of his intense, unbroken, life-sustaining devotion.

"My soul followeth close behind thee; thy right hand upholdeth me" (Psalm 63:8). An even more accurate rendering, based on the Hebrew, would be: "My soul clings to you [as if attached], and [as I do so] you carry me [to victory]!"

Here David's method of victory is unveiled. Every day he stayed close to Yahweh by prayer, worship, and meditation in His law. But when trouble came, such as the wilderness periods he was describing in Psalm 63, when Saul (and later Absalom) was chasing him to kill him, David moved in even closer to the Lord.

He began clinging to Him, like a child who, when faced with some sudden, frightening danger, jumps up into his father's arms and, with his arms and legs wrapped tightly around his father's midsection, holds on for dear life until the present peril passes.

This is what David did when things got rowdy, rough, and rocky. Instead of fighting and striving his way to an exhausting, self-driven empty victory, he "clung" his way to victory. He stayed closely attached to his heavenly Father through frequent prayer-talks, meditations on Scripture, acknowledgements of God's hand moving in his daily life, sacrifices of praise and worship, and an abiding determination to not let the stresses of life separate him from the Source of his life. Then, in this fully attached condition, he obeyed God's Word, followed the guiding prompts and warnings of His Spirit, and trusted His wisdom and power until victory was apparent.

So, I have a proposal. Why don't we start a new denomination and call it "The Clingers"? Almost every denominational name has originally been assigned by critics as a pejorative. Why not name a new one with the full, conscious intent of giving it an accurate, sympathetic description?

Okay, don't get too worried about me. No, I don't really propose a new denomination to go along with all the thousands currently existing. Rather, I am proposing a new kind (yet really the old kind) of supremely devoted Christian, like David.

Now I sincerely hope this inspires you to become more "attached" to your life's Source on a daily basis, and especially in times of trial. But as for me, I've already made my decision. I'm not a swinger, but I am a clinger. And I plan to cling my way through every test of patience, trial of faith, challenging sorrow, surprising defeat, delightful blessing, mundane month, fearful fight, and troublesome tribulation, until victory - and ultimately the Victor Himself - comes. Feeling "clingy" yet?

Clinging to my Father,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries