Selah- Be Still & Know God by Justin Knight

Selah- Be Still & Know God

The Psalms were my first hymnal.  I combed through the psalms as a young boy and often found resonance and meaning in its songs.  David, one of the many writers under the inspiration of almighty God, became a hero for me in the faith. In Psalms 46 verses 10 it says "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah."

I find it humorous that this boy from the country could be still.  Stillness was not my natural habit nor default.  It is still to this day not my natural habit nor default.  I often found in my anxieties and my disparities, that composing music would help me be still and this truly was a gift from God. My music has helped others, but please take note, that I was and still am the one in need of the most to be still and know God.

 Stillness is instrumental to knowing God. Oftentimes we are distracted by the moving waters, the many earthquakes, and the shifting sands of the times we live in.  We are more driven by our circumstances and our needs than anything else.  We often run to Jesus out of desperation and to Him last might I add, rather than first and only.  He has stilled our hearts out of desperation and like the psalmist says in Psalms 42 as the deer pants for the water brooks so my soul longs and thirst for the living God.  The key to stillness is found in a little Hebrew word at the end of this scripture.  It is simply Selah. 

While the exact meaning of Selah is debated, Selah is commonly understood as a directive to pause, rest, and reflect on the words just spoken or sung. I wrote in a previous blog and post that the rests of music are my favorite part of any piece of music.  I said in that blog that the rest allows the piece of music to breathe. Let me say that the power of finding refuge and the power of finding stillness rests in the processing in our lives the Selah moments.  It means to ponder. Another word to define it is to meditate.  I learned the power of that word meditate while growing up on a farm.  As I was working with cows one day the Lord gave me this realization and visualization that meditating was like a cow chewing its cud.  "Chew the cud" refers to the literal act of ruminants (like cows) re-chewing partially digested food to aid digestion. In other words, the cow ruminates or meditates or rechews the food to aid in the digestion.  That visual has changed my life regarding God and His precious Word.  I ingest the Word of God, and I chew its words over and over in my mind and heart allowing the meditating and ruminating actions to aid in my spiritual digesting of the Word of God.  This is how we get the Word of God into our hearts and minds.  This process helps us to fall in love with the Lord and His Word and all its attributes.  Selah is our pausing and processing every morsal of Him who speaks to us.  As a result, we resonate and echo with the words of David that says taste and see that the Lord is good. So let me ask you this question when was the last time you had a Selah moment?  Stop and chew on that a while. May I encourage us all to be still and know God.