Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of His name! Tell the world how glorious He is. Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! Your enemies cringe before Your mighty power. Everything on earth will worship You; they will sing Your praises, shouting Your name in glorious songs. Selah. Psalm 66:1-4 NLT

Selah is a Hebrew word (transliteration) occurring seventy-one times in the book of Psalms and three times in Habakkuk. But what does it mean? The short answer is no one really knows. The question of what selah means has been debated for centuries. It is the “puzzle of ordinary readers and the despair of scholars.” Possible definitions include:

• to pause, reflect, or consider. The Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that” to each verse where selah appears.
• to measure, weigh in the balance, or value. In Job 28:19 Job weighs the value of wisdom against that of jewels, and concludes that even the finest jewels cannot equal the value of wisdom: “The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.”
• to praise, lift up, or exalt. Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 inspires the reader to pause and praise God for His mercy, power, sustaining grace, and sufficiency.
• a musical notation signifying a rest to the singers and/or instrumentalists, or to “forte” (play loud) or “allegro” (play fast).

Now I am sure somewhere someone is saying “Those foolish Believers cannot agree on the definition of selah. They use it one way in this translation of the Word, and another way in that translation. So the entire Bible is codswallop.” We refer these unbelievers to Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NKJV)

So, does the meaning of selah matter? It matters because it is in the Bible. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. Every one of its words matter. This side of eternity we can’t understand all there is to know about God, so it is not surprising that there would be words in Scripture that are beyond our full comprehension. But since God has ordained that it be included in His Word, we should make an effort to find out the meaning as best we can. Start by getting in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and The Word.

Perhaps, as with many words, then as now, it has more than one meaning depending on the context. Regardless of the precise meaning, selah gives us an opportunity to consider the immense mysteries and wonders of God. When we see the word selah in a psalm or in Habakkuk, we should pause to carefully weigh the meaning of what we have just read or heard, lifting up our hearts in praise to God for His great truths. “All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You, they sing the praises of Your name.”

As thought-provoking and important as the study of selah is, it is not the main thrust of today’s post. The purpose of today’s post is getting the most out of our daily study of God’s Word. An example:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13

The Lord’s Prayer. Familiar to all Believers, and even some non-Believers. Most of us can run through it, often without reflection. And probably just did.

Now read this “selah rendition,” inserting a “selah pause” after each line, stopping to reflect on the meaning and significance of that line, weighing and lifting it up with gratitude:

Our Father, selah
who art in heaven, selah
hallowed be Thy Name. Selah
Thy Kingdom come. Selah
Thy will be done, selah
on earth as it is in heaven. Selah
Give us this day our daily bread. Selah
And forgive us our trespasses, selah
as we forgive those who trespass against us. Selah
And lead us not into temptation, selah
but deliver us from evil. Selah
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, selah
for ever and ever. Selah
Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

Selah.

From the #majestyofGod series

With content from crosswalk.com (Jason Soroski) and gotquestions.com.