Daily Devotionals

Selah 

Posted in Fear/Anxiety

Scripture:  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Selah) There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at the break of day.” – Psalm 46:1-5

How often are our thoughts, conversations, fears and anxieties crippled and driven by the chaos of the world that surrounds us? I would argue to say very often. 

Here the psalmist acknowledges the turmoil of the surrounding world and how the strongest and firmest parts of creation lie in utter tumults. We are here enclosed by the power of the foaming sea billows and the violent shaking of the mountains, yet the psalmist says, “We will not fear,” for He is our refuge and strength (v2).

Day after day, hour after hour, we let our thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions be shaped by the disorderly world around us. We are often too consumed with sufferings, distress and the upheaval of the world that we forget to look up and recognize the presence of the Lord.

In this all-consuming moment, we see the break of stanza with the word “selah.” Selah is thought to be a musical break or pause in scripture where you have the time and space to contemplate the words spoken. 

As we pause here, in the midst of the confusion, chaos, fear, and uncertainty, the psalmist responds with the illustration of a stream where our God, the Most High, dwells. This gentle, constant, peace-filled stream makes glad the city of God and God resides within her; she shall not be moved. You see now, God not only resides within this stream, but also he too resides within us. 

It is here in these overwhelming moments, where we shall choose to “selah,” pause, and truly recognize the river of God that flows in and through us. It is here where the Lord speaks in a gentle whisper and the earth melts. It is here where we learn to be still and know that he is God.

Prayer:  O Lord my God, who has been the refuge to my forefathers, be my refuge today in every time and circumstance. Be my peace through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my strength in times of testing. Gladden my heart with thy presence this day, O Father. In Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.

Submitted by Katherine Long