Stop & Think About It!!!
Time To - SELAH...
Our modern lives are busy…very busy…almost too busy to think!!!
As soon as we wake up - often after not enough sleep - we start doing things. We get up, get get ready for work, for school, for college, help with the kids, do household chores and start thinking about the day ahead and the million and one things we have to do that day. Then as the day goes on, and things that we have to accomplish start to pile up, we get lost in the moment - drowning in a sea of business.
Add to that all of the swirling mass of thoughts that rampage their way through our minds each and every day. Thoughts about whether we have enough money to pay our bills, put food on the table, keep a roof over our head, remember the doctors appointments we have to go to because now we are relentlessly ill, questions about why are we doing the jobs that are, questions about our faith and why we are struggling so much.
There is no time to just stop…take a pause…and look back at what God has already done in our lives.
In the Old Testament, there is a word for this contemplative pause… “Selah”.
The word Selah is found roughly over 70 times in the Old Testament, predominantly in the book of Psalms, but also in the book of Habakkuk (all from Chapter 3). Each time there is a Selah moment, it is preceded by a profound statement, which the author is wanting you to consider.
Here are a few examples that come from each of those books, and some will be statements that you may not have realised were even in the Bible, due to how topic like Christian meditation, spirituality, prayer and the like are taught within our churches.
From the Psalms:
Psalm 3:4 - “I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah”
Pause and think of the times that you have cried out to Jesus, all because you know that he hears you.
Psalm 4:2 - “How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah”
This is from the perspective of God…pause and think about how God sees humanity taking the glory of HIMSELF (as we are in HIS image) going out and acting in shameful ways…pause and consider the times that oyu have gone and done things that are truly worthless, and have sought out things that are false.
Psalm 4:4 - “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah”
This one is very, very interesting - in part because we are often told to go and find our secret place and prayerfully meditate on God and life. yet here is King David (whom God thought highly of) saying that even if it’s laying in bed at night quietly, you can still meditate and be connected to God.
Not only that, but David is saying that we should be righteously indignant (the right kind of anger) rather than rage filled, vengeful anger - about the evil we see around us.
Pause and consider those wakeless nights you may experience…how many times have you prayed silently, called out to God silently? Especially after a long day…you weren’t wrong to do so…if fact David is suggesting that as a course of action.
Psalm 9:20 - “Put them in fear, O Lord, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah”
Pause and consider what we are seeing on the news every night…the nations are turning their backs on God and are doing their own thing.
Pause and consider the fact that one day God will judge those same nations. This is why we shouldn’t fear the times we live in.
Psalm 32:5 - “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
Pause and reflect on your life…have you been repentant of the things that would grieve the Lord, that are against his will for your life?
pause and reflect on God’s everlasting grace, mercy and love to forgive us of our sins…through the death and resurrection in his son Jesus.
Psalm 39:5 - “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapour. Selah”
Pause and consider…our lifetime…some 80-90’ish years is but vapour…a puff of gas, that arrives one moment and vanishes not long after that.
Pause and reflect on your life - all that striving and yearning…all that bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness…all that seeking wealth and prestige…has it all bee worth it…or shall it too pass away like a puff of wind?
Psalm 61:4 - “I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah”
Pause and reflect on where we want to position ourselves in relation to the presence of God.
Do you want to be near to his presence (as found in fellowship with him)? In Hebrew the words for ‘tabernacle’ mean a ‘meeting place’ - basically a place to meet the Lord. Is that a place where you want to be???
Psalm 67:4 - “Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the nations on earth. Selah”
Pause and consider that even with all the wealth and military power that the nations poses, God will judge them - he is the Supreme Power in all of the universe.
Shouldn’t that fact give us hope in the trying times that we find ourselves in - when all the nations are rebelling against righteousness.
Psalm 140:3,5 - “They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah…The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set traps for me. Selah”
Pause and consider the things that people have said and done to you. How often does our experiences match with these verses?
Just pause and consider that God is with us, and that he will protect us.
From the Habakkuk:
Habakkuk 3:3,9,13 - “God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise…Your bow was made quite ready; Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah You divided the earth with rivers…You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah”
Chapter 3 of Habakkuk is a prayer of the prophet, within this chapter are three instances where he indicates that we should take time to pause and contemplate what he has said.
Let’s have a look at the contexts that surround the instructions to pause and meditate.
There was a time when God’s glory covered the Earth and people worshipped him.
There was a time when God was prepared to wage war for his people.
There was a time that God provided salvation for his people - he did this in His son Jesus.
There is a time when God will destroy the source of evil in the world.
So, in this moment of Selah we can see the of evidence God’s actions in human history, and in the lives of individuals - this should give us peace and hope as we make our way through this life we live.
In your busy life…take time to meditate on God’s word, to meditate on God’s actions in your life…take time to Selah!!!