The word Selah is actually in some dispute. The three meanings I have found seem to point: "to value", "to praise", or "to pause."
Most of my life I have heard it referred to as an instruction to pause and consider so I will be using it in this sense in this and future posts. This actually seems to loosely tie in with the other two possible meanings also as you will see.
Three times within Psalm 32, we are instructed to selah. It appears after verse 4, verse 5, and verse 7. I will include the text of Psalm 32 for reference below and then continue my points. It is only 11 verses long. (NIV)
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer. selah
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer. selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin. selah
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin. selah
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. selah
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
David seems to start the psalm by exclaiming the truth that will be illustrated within the psalm (verses 1&2).
Next, he points to a period of time (verses 3&4) when he has sinned, but he has not acknowledged it (see verse 5 if you are unclear on this). The key to these verses is that although the psalm begins by singing of how blessed a man is when his "transgressions are forgiven and his sins are covered....and the Lord does not count against him." It also speaks of ..."whose spirit is no deceit." God does not begin by covering sins and transgressions. He takes away joy and saps strength. He allows misery and groaning. This is the initial blessing brought by God because God's forgiveness is not the forgiveness of a parent who simply does not teach their child awareness of wrong behaviour and does not deal with the reality of their sin. This would corrupt the child and not build them up. This is not a redeeming kind of forgiveness. The first selah appears after verse 4. We ARE to stop and consider the truths implied in verses 3 and 4.
In verse 5, there is a profound transition from misery to complete forgiveness. There are no works offered here by David. There is simply and....finally... a willingness to..."acknowledge my sin and did not cover up my iniquity." There is a bam quality to the latter part of verse 5. "I will confess my transgression to the Lord"--and BAM--(bam is not in the text) "you forgave the guilt of my sin." We ARE to stop and consider the truths implied in verse 5.
Finally, in verses 6 and 7, there is praise and a profound truth dawning on David that he longs to send upward to God and outward to all who will hear him. Here lies the third and final selah to stop and consider.
The psalm concludes by pointing to God's desire for us to be responsive to his lessons and truths as a child and not only directed by external guidance like an animal.
2 comments:
I believe the sick soul is the soul that finds God. I think it's not until we realize our devastating state that we can come to God. I like what Calvin wrote:
"We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself; that is, so long as he’s contented with his own endowments, and unconscious or unmindful of his misery? Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find Him. One the other hand, it’s evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself."
When he writes, "led by the hand to find Him," I think he is saying that it is the misery itself that leads us by the hand. Upon coming to know our true selves, misery sets in, and that misery guides us to God.
D-Mac
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Found at the beginning of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5 seems to parallel this foundational truth.
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