A String of Selah Pearls - Psalm 88:8-10

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 88:8-10 “You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them.  I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief.  I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.  Do you show your wonders to the dead?  Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?  Selah.”

Meditation

If this isn’t one sad cry for help!  Read the whole psalm if you can.  The psalmist feels abandoned by everyone, from God on down through his friends. He feels he’s been “set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave” (v. 5).   He says, “The darkness is my closest friend” (v. 18).

Still he cries out to God.  Despite everything, he knows enough not to give up on the only one who can help him.

This is a good lesson for me, for everyone, I suspect.  When we’ve been hurt, when we feel betrayed, we want to give up . . . consider ourselves dead to the world . . . have a mega pity party.  Oh the drama!

It’s also a good lesson to look to God when things are darkest in the world.  He is, after all, the one with the well-earned reputation for “being there.” And he is in a position to change what needs changing, whether that be us or our circumstances.

SELAH

Look up: Psalm 13:1-6; 18:1; 20:1-9; 62:5; 73:25; 118:8;

Hebrews 13:5

A String of Selah Pearls - Psalm 85:1-2

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 85:1, 2   “You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.  You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.  Selah.”

Meditation

His land and his people!  There seems to be no end to the favor God extends toward those whom he has chosen.  That gives me reason to celebrate!  As one of his chosen, I have already been a recipient of his grace—many times.

I’ve watched an amber sun dive into the Pacific Ocean at night knowing full-well that it would surface in the morning, all fresh and pink, over Mount Hood in the East. God gives me peace.

I’ve loved my children and watched them grow, loved them enough to let them go and form families of their own. God gives me wisdom.

I’ve giggled with my grandchildren, Thomas, Sam, Luke, and Vivienne, over countless silly things. God gives me joy.

I’m growing old with my husband and am recognizing Jesus in his gentle ways. God gives me love.

I’ve buried family and have grieved, yet not as those who have no hope, for I believe I will see them again.  God gives me patience.

SELAH

Look up: Romans 8:28-29; Acts 16:31; John 6:37; 

Galatians 5:22-23; I Thessalonians 4:13-17

A String of Selah Pearls - Psalm 55:16-19

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 55:16-19 “But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them . . . Selah.”

Meditation

In the greater context, this psalm is talking about the treachery of false friends. What hurts more than being betrayed by someone we trust, someone we love, someone we thought loved us?

Maybe you have known that pain. If so, then you also know that recurring grief strikes without warning, evening, morning and noon. Evenings may be the worst, when the busyness of the day has gone to bed, leaving you all alone to face the twin enemies of the soul, bitterness and anger.

This pearl shows us we can cry out morning, noon and night, and God will

• come to our defense,
• pluck us out of the battle,
• ransom us unharmed, and
• take care of our enemies.

Now there’s a Friend! A true friend! If God is for us, who can be against us?

SELAH

Look up: Romans 8:31