"Selah" - The Power of an Ancient Word from God "Every word of God is flawless." Proverbs 30:5 Christ himself said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law." Every now and then, after spending some time digging in the scriptures, an obscure word begins to radiate eternal meaning. One such word for me is "Selah." It is used over seventy times in the Psalms and another musical passage in Habakkuk. "Selah" is part of God's word and it surrounds lyrics in Israel's worship material. Being a disciple who is trained in composing music, I was excited to find out all I could about the word. This article is a summary of my findings. As always, God's word did NOT disappoint! I am so excited to share the treasures and blessings I have received by studying this word out. The Bible shows principles surrounding what we see in context with "Selah". Even with an obscure word, "the word of God is living and active." Hebrews 4:12 The materials available in our Bibles and online in various Bible encyclopedias, including Hebrew lexicons and a few articles were mildly helpful - but very shallow. All of them were not very thorough and lacked a disciple's perspective. The world does not value the supremacy of God's word. Additionally, most scholars are not very practical. The best thing, I thought, would be to examine the passages where "Selah" was used and look for any commonalities in my quiet times and journaling. In time, I trusted I would understand the meaning of "Selah" Old Testament Factoid: The Lord uses "Selah" twice as often as "Amen" and three times more than "Hallelujah" All around the world, two Hebrew words have become international terms; "Amen" and "Hallelujah". "Selah" as little as this word is used or understood, is used three times as much in the Old Testament as "Amen" and "Hallelujah"! And "Selah" is used in over 25% of the Psalms! Seventy-four times in the Old Testament, the writers penned "Selah" in strategic places. "Amen" is used 28 times in the HCSB Old Testament and "Hallelujah" 23 times. Like "Selah", "Hallelujah" is only used in Psalms. Additionally, all the Psalmists, but two, used "Selah" as part of their inspired text. It is definitely a word worth understanding! Below is a table showing the authors in the Old Testament who used the word "Selah" in their Psalms. Habakkuk wrote a Psalm in his book, and he used it 3 times under inspiration. All total, the word is recorded 74 times in God's word. If God used it significantly more than both "Amen" and "Hallelujah", it certainly worth the reading and study to seek its meaning! Who used "Selah" and how often in each Psalm? When used, "Selah" was used on the average 2 times per Psalm. Ethan the Ezrahite, used "Selah" four times in Psalm 89. Ethan was an amazing man and in one account was held up as a measure of Solomon's wisdom. Another Psalmist, Heman, was noted in the same passage. I Kings 4:31 Both of them wrote one Psalm that we have record of. Heman was not one of the "Sons of Korah", but their work was mutually included in Psalm 88 with him. David's usage of "Selah" was naturally the most prolific since he penned nearly 50% of all the Psalms. When David used "Selah" in a psalm, his 1.85 times per psalm, is uncannily close to the total average of 1.9 times. Perhaps, his practice was an imitated standard. What happens in a Psalm when "Selah" is used? The question above was a key inquiry for me to try and grasp the meaning of God's word. "What happens in a Psalm when 'Selah' is used?" Of course, in order to discover anything at all, one has to explore and drill down into the channels that exist. And so, I opened up my Bible to Psalm 3 and read... Psalm 3 A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. 1LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah 3But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. 4I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah 5I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. 7Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah Now I know this can be subjective, and what we see three times is "Selah." Take a look at it Psalm 3 a few times and see if anything changes in the Psalm after each "Selah." The one at the end of verse 8 is what I termed a "Closing Selah." This closing function only happens 4 times out of the 74 uses of "Selah" or 5.4% of the time. But what do you see happen after verse 2? Take some time and look at it. Something happens to the direction of the lyrics. Did something happen in David's heart? Now, look at the second Selah after verse 4. Again, take some time and look at it. The lyrics take on another direction. And what of David's thoughts? There is a clear progression taking place! And finally David sings "From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people." Selah What happens after that "closing Selah"? I guess that's up to you and me... But if there is a pattern established, where David transforms from inward fear to upward faith then to confident trust he can sleep on... Wouldn't the natural tendency be for us to transform as well as we reflect on the Lord's blessing of deliverance? That's just one Psalm. But it is a good example of the general function of "Selah." We don't know what happened with the music or the singing after "Selah" but we can see that something happened in the lyrics from the heart of the psalmist when "Selah" was noted. With that one Psalm of David we saw a "closing Selah" and a pair of a transitional or "Transformative Selah" Let's look at a Psalm by the Sons of Korah. Here we will see the "transformative Selah" at work with something a bit different. Later, I will share a cataloging of all 74 Selah verses for you to study on your own. For now let's look at Psalm 46. Just as Psalm 3 is a familiar "Songs of the Kingdom" worship song, Psalm 46 is familiar to us as well. "Be still my Soul" Psalm 46 For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. 1God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Here in Psalm 46, we see a closing Selah and transformational Selah. In addition we see the use of a repeated phrase or a "Refrain Selah." This type of Selah is used 8 times in the 74 selah occurrences. That is 10.8% of the time. For me, the refrain in verse 7 and verse 11 was very interesting. So often we focus on verse 10 - "Be Still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth." And yet the selah verse is actually more important in the sense that, it is the thought that God wants us to internalize. Yes, "being still" before our exalted God is crucially important. But what a transformation of our heart takes place if we look closely at the selah verse after that: "The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Isn't that really what God wants us to know and appreciate? Who can truly succeed in life without God? Whose religion is truly spiritual without having God with them? What energizes our faith more than knowing God is with us as we do his will? Selah puts our focus on the things God wants us to think about. Most of the time, as we see in Psalm 46 and Psalm 3, when "selah" is noted, there is a transformation of the lyrics to a new topic or focus.