A String of Selah Pearls - Psalm 62:1-4

Positioned gracefully across the Book of Psalms is a string of seventy-one pearls, lovely beads of wisdom followed by the admonition SELAH which means, “Pause, think on these things, meditate.” 

Psalm 62: 1-4 “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.  How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down—this leaning wall, this tottering fence?  They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies.  With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.  Selah.”

Meditation

Look at me.  See me for what I am, a tottering fence, a leaning wall.  No strength of my own.  Weak.  An enemy could see this and take pleasure in plotting my destruction, bringing me down through deception and lies.

But I have this friend.  He lives in a lofty place and his name is God.  He’s big and he cares about me.  In fact, whenever I’m in trouble, I can go to him and find rest and protection.  He’s my rock and I shall never be moved.

So I don’t fear an enemy.  I may fear FOR him because I know what God is capable of doing to those who pick on his children. But I also know that God is patient and kind.  While he gives my enemy more time to repent, he continues to protect me.

Sometimes I wish he’d just cream the creep. But he usually doesn’t.  I know . . . because I’ve been a creep myself.

SELAH

Look up: Genesis 12:1-3; Luke 12:4-5; Romans 12:17-21; Psalm 31:19; Romans 11:33-34; Isaiah 55:8

A String of Pearls - Psalm 46:7,11

Positioned gracefully across the Book of Psalms is a string of seventy-one pearls, lovely beads of wisdom followed by the admonition SELAH which means, “Pause, think on these things, meditate.”

Psalm 46:7, 11 “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.”

Meditation:

Have you ever felt small and alone? At times I have felt as insignificant as a speck of dust, that no one would miss me if I dropped off the face of the earth.

Jacob may have felt that way when he left his home after a lifetime of deception and fraud. Off into the desert he fled from his angry brother Esau, fled for his life! Bedding down for the night, head on a stone pillow, Jacob had time to consider the blessing he had stolen from his brother, to consider what a wretch he had been. But as sleep overcame him, he dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway. Above the stairway stood the LORD.

The LORD told Jacob that he would bless him with land and descendants to cover it like the dust of the earth. Suddenly, that speck of dust, alone and wretched, was promised a future and an inheritance. Did he deserve such a blessing? No. Hadn’t he just stolen a much smaller blessing from his brother? Yes. Yet God promised to protect Jacob and became a fortress for his people.

God chooses to bless whom he will, even those who have strayed far from home, who are fleeing past mistakes, who rest their heads in stony places, who feel small and alone. Why? God’s view is eternal: he sees the big picture. He has a Master Plan.

SELAH

Look up: Genesis 28:10-15; Psalm 19:1; Jeremiah 29:11.