“Selah vie!”

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

The title for this blog post is a little bit of a tongue in cheek one.  A little bit of word play; instead of ‘c’est la vie!’ (That’s life in French) it’s ‘Selah vie!’; with Selah being a Hebrew word that occurs in two books in the Bible; Habbakuk and more prominently in the book of Psalms.

In trying to understand what ‘Selah’ means, scholars have come up with a few possible translations; one being that it relates to the Hebrew word ‘calah‘, meaning to hang or measure/weigh in the balance; check out Job 28:19. Another way to look at ‘Selah’ is that it takes its meaning from two Hebrew root words; ‘s’lah’ meaning to praise; and ‘s’lal‘ meaning to lift up. Other scholars believe it comes from the Hebrew word ‘salah‘, meaning to pause.

It could actually encompass all three explanations.

‘Selah’ indicating that we pause and value the words that have just been declared in the Psalm; and in that place of contemplative reflection upon the truths of God, we naturally lift up our hands and voices in praise to God.

That’s why I chose the verse from Psalm 46 above.

In the busyness of life and all that we are doing, when things get tough and we don’t know where to turn; instead of shrugging our shoulders and saying ‘c’est la vie!’ That’s life and there is nothing we can do about it; instead lets ‘Selah’; pause and think about God’s truths, God’s promises, God’s faithfulness, God’s power, God’s love.  Let us take time-out to spend gazing in wonder at our great Creator and Saviour; our God and King Jesus Christ.

In that place of awe and wonder, we cannot help but lift up our heads, lift up our hearts and lift up our voices in praise and adoration of our amazing Lord.

“In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:10

So this half-term let us take time-out and pause, reflect upon the value of God, and also the value He places upon us, and lets us lift up our hearts to Him in praise.

Be blessed.