Yes… Quickly. The weekend has arrived…
It’s been below the 20’s every night this week, making the snow from last weekend stick around for a few days longer. Although, it’s no longer snow…just ice!
Still, another front is moving in and there’s a promise of lightly falling flakes here in the lowlands. They say the mountain passes may get over 3 feet…Guess I need to be living in those mountains!
Remember. This is your day off and “work” to enjoy it appropriately. Rest from your labors. Prepare for church tomorrow. Then start you new week on the right foot by having a great attitude!
I’m preparing my message and other Sunday things right now, listening to my Amazon Prime music playlist of a favored group called Selah…
Selah… This is an interesting word in the Old Testament. It is used once as a location that gets a name change, then 71 times in Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk like a “Pause” statement. Sometimes in the middle of a verse after an important statement, but mostly at the end of a verse for the same reason. One translation for the concept of the “Pause” is that something has just been uttered that is eternally important, so you should pause and think about what you’ve just read.
Here’s an example:
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah (Psalms 32:7 NKJV)
See. It’s like a statement to close off a major thought. God is our hiding place. I do not know this as a fact, but I suspect Corrie Ten Boom used this scripture as a title of her first book, “A Hiding Place” telling the story of her family hiding Jews from the Nazi’s in Holland. A preservation from trouble. This is what David found himself in so many times. The troubles of the times, politics, family, and his own sins. Surrounding us with songs of deliverance. When you need to be reminded of certain benefits it is good to surround yourself with songs and writings that constantly keep you remembering. Selah…
Since the Psalms is essentially a song, or poetry, collection, we can look at the musical world to understand this concept of a pause. There are many emblems used in a musical score to show the conductor, musician or singer that a single note, or range of notes, will be held longer than normal. In the Psalms we do not find any hint of these emblems, only an occasional word is used to introduce a “Pause”.
In my research I have found many emblems, but I like the one for this blog…There are other symbols that I recognize! It makes me realize how complicated musical scores can be, and how hard it must be to learn it all… After all, I just want to rest…
