Stick Close to Me

When my oldest child was just coming out of babyhood, he had an entire vocabulary of his own invention – or so we assumed. One of the words that was most memorable to me was "dabaq". He used this word as a request, whenever he wanted one of us to sit down close to him. It was usually reserved for some tight-fit, sweet and cozy little place like a garden bench. It was a "cuddle-here-next-to-me-squish-in-close" request. He'd pat the spot next to himself and say, "Dabaq!". The word was so striking to me that I was almost certain it was a real word in some other language. I almost felt like I recognized it. I even got online and searched for the word in every spelling I could imagine, starting with d-a-b-a-q. I didn’t find anything, but I never forgot the word.

Father and son in a "dabaq" kinda spot.

Well, not long ago, I read this post by author Ann Voskamp and was amazed (but somehow not that surprised) to discover that dabaq really is a word. I didn’t find it in my earlier searches because it’s a transliteration of a Hebrew word. It’s the word we read in the King James Bible translated as “cleave” – as in “…and to him shalt thou cleave…” (Deuteronomy 10:20). It’s also the word we read in Genesis that describes the mystery-miracle of marriage – a man who leaves his parents to cleave to his wife, the two becoming one. That close.

I knew it! I was sure it was a word, and it was a good one.

“Cleave” means to cling to, hold tight to. It’s that “squish-in-here-tight” part of “come near me, stay near me”. In the passage in Deuteronomy, Moses is telling the Israelites that God wants them to come close, be near, “stick with Me”. Moses knew about this first-hand – he was the one who stood in the Tent of Meeting with The-One-and-Only-Ever-Living-God. Moses was the one who longed to be close to God to the point that he dared to ask Him, “Show me Your glory”.

David knew it, too. In the 31^st Psalm (quoted from The Message), he wrote, “Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him...”, and in the 91st Psalm, he describes the benefits to all those who would live right up under God's arm, by His side.

 And those of us who live after the Messiah came to walk among us – how much more should we see that He wants us close? He put on our skin and walked our paths! He died to bring us near, very near, dabaq-near. Two becoming one – that close.

Songwriter Jonathan David Hessler wrote, "You're more real than the wind in my lungs, You're closer than the ground I'm standing on...You're closer than the skin on my bones, You're closer than the song on my tongue..." (Abba) It's one of my new favorite songs...because it's true.

God is not the far-off whitebeard on a cloud. He paid a very dear price to have you very, very close.

Cling to the Christ.

He’s on the garden bench.

His hand is on the space next to Him,

and He’s holding that seat for you.

“Dabaq.”



Ambushed by God with an invitation to sit close,
Kimberly