There is a word in our reading today that you may be wondering about. It came at the end of our reading, although if we had heard all of Psalm 62, we would have heard this word two times.
It is the word selah.
In the entire book of Psalms, the word selah appears 71 times, and it appears three more times in the book of Habakkuk.
Scholars don’t know what selah means, so it is left untranslated. Just a strange little word in our scriptures, appearing by itself.
The word selah appears to be some kind of liturgical direction. It only appears in biblical poetry, in lyrics that likely were sung during worship. Many scholars guess that it means there should be a musical interlude. But they aren’t really sure.
In reading Psalm 62, it occurred to me that perhaps selah means “take a rest.” Just pause for a moment. Take a breath. Let the words sink in. Let the meaning sink into your heart…
There is often a sense of urgency in our lives. And, sometimes, scripture reinforces that sense of urgency. In fact, the other lectionary readings for this third Sunday after Epiphany reinforce a sense of urgency.
There’s a reading from 1 Corinthians assigned for this day in which the apostle Paul writes: “the time has grown short!”
And the gospel reading for today is from the gospel of Mark, in which Jesus calls his disciples to follow him; “immediately,” they leave their nets to follow him.
That word “immediately” appears twice. It’s one of Mark’s favorite words.
I think selah is a balance to that sense of urgency. 1 Corinthians and Mark are telling us to hurry up; Psalm 62 - and every psalm that uses the word selah - is telling us to pause, and rest, and take a breath.
In the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, it says that there is a season and a time for everything. I’m sure that includes a time for moving quickly, and a time for being still; a time for working hard, and a time for resting.
Selah.
The words of Psalm 62 reinforce the importance of resting and waiting. Verse one says, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” Verse five repeats that phrase, almost word-for-word: “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my hope.”
It makes sense that the word selah would appear twice in a psalm that talks about resting and waiting in silence.
Other verses in this psalm provide a little more context to the psalmist’s situation. We learn that the psalmist is in a crisis situation. Enemies are trying to bring the psalmist down, through lies and slander.
Like many of the psalms, Psalm 62 is attributed to King David, and if that’s the case, then it is against the king that these malicious lies are directed. Politicians often are the recipients of false accusations and rumors.
And if they’re not careful, politicians can also be the source of false accusations and rumors.
...Because it is tempting, when attacked, to lash out, to fight back, to respond immediately in a knee-jerk fashion. We feel a sense of urgency in responding quickly to our accusers.
I imagine politicians feel that even more so.
But the psalmist here rests and waits for God, in silence, before responding.
Selah.
And in that pause, that time of rest, the psalmist waits for God. The psalmist waits for wisdom. The psalmist waits for love.
When we wait for God, wait for wisdom, wait for love to guide us, we will respond to whatever situation we are facing in a better way than if we had reacted too quickly.
Some of the prominent Christian leaders I follow on social media are always so quick to get worked up, to get in a rage, to tweet their rage. At times, social media seem to be all a frantic clamor.
To those who are persuaded to post without pause or tempted to tweet without taking time to think, the psalmist presents a better way to respond.
Sam Mast from Calvin Theological Seminary said that “When the psalmist is blasted by the words of his enemies, he does not fight back with a storm of words, as some contemporary leaders do. Rather, he is silent, not because he is helpless or cowardly, but because he trusts the God who is his rock, his salvation, his refuge.”
After we wait on God in silence, we find a calmer, wiser way to respond. This gentleness is not weakness, but a reflection of our confidence in God.
Too many trust in the sound of their own words, or in what they are convinced is their own right way of thinking. But the psalmist trusts in God alone to help respond in a way that is most helpful, most loving, and most conducive to building a community of love, a community that reflects the values of God’s kingdom.
The psalmist also encourages us - in this time of resting, this time of waiting - to “pour out our hearts” before God. Before responding to the attacks, before jumping into the fray, even before expressing your righteous indignation at injustice or oppression… pause for a moment, and take a breath. And before you spill out your thoughts to those around you, first spill out your thoughts to God.
This includes offering up to God your lament.
I am so thankful that one of the first things President Biden did this week was provide space for us as a nation to grieve, to lament.
On Tuesday evening, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was lined with 400 lights, representing the 400,000 lives lost in the U.S. to the pandemic. And in his inaugural address on Wednesday, the president spoke words of lamentation - and it really was the first time that we as a nation had been invited to lament all that COVID-19 has taken from us. It was our first opportunity as a nation to pause, and pour out our hearts to God.
And it was healing, to pause, to gaze upon those lights, and reflect, to wait in silence on God...
When you wait in silence on God, you may discover that there are things in your heart that even you weren’t aware of - things you have suppressed or covered up. The only way to really know what’s in your heart is to wait in silence… and only then can you “pour out your heart.”
We have a lot going on right now, in our lives. We’re dealing with a lot. If ever we needed to pour out our hearts to God, it’s now.
And sometimes, it is in the times of silent waiting that God works to open your mind to new understandings.
Being forced to reckon with new understandings is a challenge. Being forced to reckon with new understandings means acknowledging the doubts that we have tried to ignore. Being forced to reckon with new understandings means moving from a simplistic, dualistic way of thinking, to a way of thinking that allows for complexity and mystery...
No wonder we are often reluctant to wait in silence for God.
Waiting in silence is hard. Especially at first. A few months ago, I wrote about my own experiences with silence. What I wrote then was this:
“The first fifteen minutes of sitting in silence, you’re bored. Restless. Ten times you think about getting up and doing something else.
“The next fifteen minutes, your mind starts to tune in to what’s around you. You start to notice things. Your mind still wanders, but you are no longer restless.
“By the time you’ve been sitting for an hour, it seems like you’ve hardly been there any time at all.”
This is true to my experience. It is hard to stop, to be still, to wait in silence on God.
But when I do, my energy improves, my breathing improves, my thinking improves, my emotions improve… and my sermons improve, too.
We need those times of silence.
So here’s a challenge for you. Sometime this week - this afternoon would be good - find a time to sit in silence. You might want to set a timer for 15, 20, or 30 minutes, so that you aren’t constantly wondering how much time has passed since you started your time of silence. Set the timer, then just sit. In silence. Waiting on God.
I love doing this out in nature, in some spot that I’ve had to hike a ways to reach. But it can be done anywhere. A comfy chair is good, as long as you aren’t distracted by books or electronics.
It might be helpful to have a pen and paper with you; that way, if you suddenly remember that you need to call so-and-so, you can write “call so-and-so” on your paper, and then not let that thought distract you from your time of silent waiting.
Then, whatever thoughts and emotions come to you, you can offer them to God. And then, listen to the silence.
This is a practice that you should make a habit of... You won’t always get something out of it. You might sit there for 15 or 30 minutes, and at the end, say to yourself, “Well, that was a waste of time.”
But that doesn’t mean your attempt was a failure. There is no failure here! It may take 3 or 5 or 10 times of doing this until that one time when something opens up within you, and you notice that “still small voice,” and you feel a connection to something bigger than yourself, that connection with God.
It takes practice; but eventually, you’ll feel that connection, and in that connection is awakening.
If you are willing to try this, willing to experience waiting in silence for God, do it… and let me know how it goes...
