Howard Hendricks noted that the word is variously translated from the Hebrew of Genesis 2:24: A man shall leave his father and mother and "hold fast" (cleave, or cling) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Noting that both the male and the female were fashioned from the ground's dirt, he said with a smile, "That's marriage - two clods clinging together!" [Oh that such clinging would prevail in marriages!]
My mind's eye sees the small child, arms tightly vice-grip-wrapped around a mother's leg in the midst of a large crowd. The little heart desperate for the feel of someone he/she trusts. Desperate not to loose contact. Separation would be unbearably frightening.
In this portion of Psalm 119, there is a fight between "clinging," personal realities.
My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to Your Word!
When I was told of my ways, You answered me;
teach me Your statutes!
Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
and I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to Your word!
Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me Your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set Your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of Your commandments,
when You enlarge my heart.
(or "for You set my heart free")
The dirt of life pulls us down, and wants to bury us. Sometimes it feels like our very soul is wrapped in the decay of the earth. Our sense of security-life ebbs away. Indeed, tis the season. Every four years, we hear candidates promise to virtually turn the world around with their proposals...and every four years, we realize how hollow those promises are. There is little life in dust.
Real life comes from the life-giving Word of God himself. To know God, and His Son Jesus Christ (cf. John 17:1-3) is eternal life, unsullied by the turf. God's prescriptions for what can be wrong with life (His precepts), His wondrous works which revive the reflective heart, the Lord's testimonies which give bold (shame-chasing) confidence - clinging to the Lord's word and voice resurrects the soul from the downward pull.
You've noticed, haven't you, the contrast between the bookends of this stanza. It begins with one's soul in the dirt (vs. 25); it ends with the soul set free (vs.32). Wow...how cool is that!!
Be that child who clings to the whole person of the Lord. You've seen it. The little one wraps arms tightly around one leg, two if he/she can! The parent feeling the clamp bends down and lifts the toddler up. They exchange smiles and hugs. Cling to the Lord's testimonies. Wrap your arms around them. They are full of soul-resurrecting life! He loves to lift us up.
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