Selah

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 28th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Psalms 3:2:

Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

And then we go on to verse 8:

Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

And then we go on to Psalm 4:2:

How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood? Selah

The word, “selah”, literally means to pause, to think about it. Right through the Psalms, you see the word “Selah” at the end. I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word, “pause”. It means to take a break, to rest, it means to wait, to take a breather, it means to stop talking or doing something for a short time before continuing again. I think this word is more for me than I think it is for you. If you don’t believe me, maybe you should ask my wife because she keeps telling me, “You don’t stop.”

Now, we have got to pause, and that is what the psalmist means when he says, “Selah”. You read that scripture, then you pause, and you think about it, you “chew the cud” as the cow does, and you think about it, and then it makes sense. You and I need to slow down and start to “selah”, start to pause. The musicians tell me (and I love music, I think you know that, I can’t play any instruments but I love music) if there is no pause in the score in the music, then it doesn’t sound like anything.

For example, you know that beautiful song that we sing, “Because He lives”?

And because He lives (pause)
I can face tomorrow (pause)
Because He lives (pause)
All fear is gone (pause)
And because I know (pause)
Yes, I know, He holds the future (pause)
And life is worth the living (pause)
Just because He lives.

Jesus bless you today, as you take a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and you pause when you read God’s word.
Goodbye.