Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants. – Psalm 83:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 5, 2019): Psalm 83

Catherine McKenzie, in her novel “Forgotten,” writes, “Is there a panic button I can hit? Or better yet, a button that will pause this whole scene while I figure out how I want to play it? But no. That's not how it works in real life.” McKenzie might be wrong. One of the traits of those around us who seem to deal the best with adversity is that they seem to have found that pause button. A parody of the opening lines of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” insists that “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, then you don’t understand the situation.” Of course, that is not Kipling’s conclusion. Kipling writes “If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, … [then] Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!” If you can find the pause button, there is no situation that you will not be able to find your way through, and there is no problem for which you will be unable to find a solution.

The translators of the NIV have omitted a word in this verse. In their defense, it is a word of uncertain meaning. Most experts think that it is a musical notation, and while the Psalms are believed to essentially be the lyrics to the songs of the Hebrew faith, the music has been long since forgotten. And without the music, what good is a musical notation. But here, it seems that the musical notation might be critical.

The missing word is “Selah.” The word appears seventy-four times in the Hebrew Bible; seventy-one times in the Psalms and three times in the prophetic book of Habakkuk. Because of the uncertain nature of the word, when the word is included in an English translation, it is usually left untranslated. “Selah.” The reader often skips over the word since it has no meaning. But …

Our best guess is that the word means “Pause.” Maybe it is a notation indicating that it is here that the musical instruments should take over, just for a moment, expressing the emotion of the moment in the stirring of their strings and the beating of the drum. Or maybe here, the worshipper is allowed to dance, allowing the movement of the body to speak the words that the even the poetry of the Psalmist could not produce. Here, the voice stills, and there is a pause, just for a moment.

But in this Psalm, there might be an even deeper meaning to the word. The Psalmist describes the danger. The enemies of the nation are conspiring against them. They are not content with just defeating them; they want to remove them from the planet. They are coming from all sides. The enemy has formed an unholy alliance against the people of God. They seem to have the advantage unless something happens. And the Psalmist is desperately looking for the panic button.

Then the Psalmist adds the word; Selah. Pause. Let the music play and the dancers dance. Let a moment be filled with everything that we might consider unproductive or not understanding the gravity of the situation. For a moment, let’s find our perspective. God is still on the throne; He is always ready and willing to save. This “Selah” is his moment. His invitation to move.

What do you do when everyone about you is losing their heads? Selah. Pause. Listen and dance. Because this is the very time that God often chooses to do his moving.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 89