Selah, Pause

Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. Psalm 3:2 (KJV)

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Psalm 143:6 (KJV)

These are the first and last use of the word selah in Psalms, with many uses in-between. The word psalms in the Hebrew is tehillim, which means praises. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament used during the time when Jesus was on earth, used the word Psalmoi, which means songs to the accompaniment of stringed instruments. This is where we get the English word Psalm.

Selah, therefore, is a pause in the music accompanying a psalm or prayer. We can sings psalms and sing our prayers. Whatever can be said, can also be sung.

We need to selah. We need to selah in our lives as well as in music. We need to pause in God’s presence. Take time to be with God, to know God, to love God, and worship God. Selah has also been translated “Pause and calmly think about it.”

We need to slow our minds down, bringing our fast-paced lives to a halt, to spend time with God. Stop stressing and start resting. As you believe God and His Word, you can enter in to the rest of Christ. Jesus said that it is finished and now He’s seated. We, too, are seated with Him in heavenly places as equal heirs, meaning we are to be at rest as well. Selah has also been rendered as “pause in His presence.”

Selah is a pause in music. It is a musical term meant to be silent for a time. Musicians call this a rest. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do- rest? We can pause as long as we desire. Just linger in God’s presence. When God manifests His presence, don’t be in a hurry to move on. Slow down, quiet your soul, and enjoy the Lord. Breathe out stress and breathe in God.

Pause from your fast-paced life. Step away from a stress-filled life to selah, relax and enjoy the Lord. God waits for us daily to come and be with Him. Stop all you’re doing and do life with God. First seek Him and His righteousness, and all these temporal things will be added. Seek the Eternal One and selah, being with Him at all times. Think on God. Put your thoughts on God and keep them on Him. Don’t be so busy that you only think of God now and then. Slow down and selah. Unending peace will come as a result of it.

 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)