Selah: Pause and Ponder with Purpose.

"All artists love what they give birth to - parents love their children; poets love their poems; craftspeople love their handiwork.  

How then could God hate a single thing since God is the artist of every thing? 

... God is an artist and the universe is God's work of art.  

All natural things are produced by divine art and can rightly be called God's works of art."

                                                                                                              --Thomas Aquinas

Scripture:

4 All the earth worships you; 
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.” 

Selah

5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves. 

Selah


Observation:
No one really knows exactly what "selah" means. The word in its original language is difficult to translate literally or in a way that is definitive.  
That said, a lot can be inferred from the context in which it occurs within scripture
(71 times in the Psalms and a three more times in Habakukk).

You can read a bit more on it here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah

The upshot, is that the word Selah always underlines a statement of important (yet illusive) truth. Selah is a rubric that invites us to "pause and ponder;and, pondering be transformed".

Two times in this short passage we are invited to "pause and ponder with purpose".

In general, this discipline of stopping to make room for reflection and discernment is important.

This passage invites us specifically to ponder upon the paradoxical statements:

1) All the earth worships (G-D)
and
2) There are some who are at least tempted to rebel against this good and orderly direction by choosing to exalt not G-D but themselves.

Application:

Today is a day for pondering with purpose.

What does it mean for me, that 

"all the earth worships God, singing God's praises"?

Is this a prompt affirmation of the original blessing that dwells within the goodness of all creation?

Is this an invitation to engage others who do not share the external trappings of my particular religion as fellow worshippers of the One, Living God?

I shall pause. I shall ponder with purpose.

Who is the warning to avoid self-exaltation aimed at?
Is it the godless, the heathen, who fails to repent and believe who is here put on notice?

Could it be that it is the rebel in me - the one who would be so bold as to distinguish between the god forsaken and the genuine chosen ones of G-D?

I shall pause, I shall ponder with purpose.

Prayer:
Lord, You alone are worthy of my trust, my faith, my hope, my praise. Selah.
Grant me grace to pause and ponder with purpose. Amen.