Pause in His Presence

Selah. This is a term used often in the book of Psalms. The first time we see the word Selah is in Psalms 3. Here, David is writing about his trouble with one of his sons. The Psalms begins much like others David wrote with the negative emotions he has about the situation he is dealing with. Psalms 3:1-2 (The Passion Translation) “Lord, I have so many enemies, so many who are against me. Listen to how they whisper their slander against me, saying: Look! He’s hopeless! Even God can’t save him from this! Selah (Pause in His Presence)” 

Like many of the Psalms David wrote, Psalms 3 goes on to talk about how big God is versus the situation he is currently in, and how he knows God will come through for him. I think that is why it is easy to identify with so many of the Psalms David wrote. Many of us when we enter prayer with God, find it easy to cry out to Him about the situations we are in. And many times that is valid. 

We live in a fallen world and some of the circumstances we face can seem daunting, overwhelming even. However, I think the key to getting God’s perspective on the situation and being able to come into peace is much like David does: we need to selah. We need to pause in his presence. 

The presence of God changes everything. When we invite the presence of God into our circumstance, into our space, into our time it changes our entire perspective. God tells us who we really are. We are a victorious much loved child of the King. How we view our current circumstances changes after God reminds us of our identity. 

We see this with David as well as the Psalms continue to unfold. Psalms 2:3-4, “But in the depths of my heart I truly know that you, Yahweh, have become my Shield; You take me and surround me with yourself. Your glory covers me continually. You lift my head. I have cried out to you, Yahweh, from your holy presence. You send me a Father’s help. Selah (Pause in His Presence)”

As David allows the presence of the Lord to fill him, his perspective begins to change. He begins to recount what He knows about the Lord. Through this recounting he remembers all the times God has come through for him.

The Psalms continues 3:5-6, “So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby- then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory. Even though ten thousand dark powers prowl around me, I won’t be afraid.” You might notice that David understands his circumstances have not changed. There are still “dark powers prowling” around him, but he is comforted and will sleep knowing God surrounds him.

The Psalms ends with David understanding where his strength comes from. Psalms 3:7-8, “Rise up and help me, Yahweh! Come and save me, God! For you will slap them in the face, breaking the power of their words to harm me. For the Lord alone is my savior. What a feast of favor and bliss he gives his people! Selah (Pause in His Presence).”

Many scholars believe the word Selah is a musical term for pause or rest. However, according to a note in The Passion Translation, there is an almost identical word Sela that means “a massive rock cliff.” The Passion Translation points out “when Selah is spoken, the words are carved in stone in the throne room of the heavens.”

This realization struck me. I think sometimes when we approach God we don’t understand who we are or whose we are. Therefore often our prayers can come out with less faith and authority and more of a wish or a hope. I think we also tend to disconnect heaven and the throne room of God from our daily lives. But if you think about what this note in the Passion Translation is saying, when we pause in God’s presence, when we really get in touch with who we are talking to and what God says about us, our words have enormous weight in the throne room of God. Talk about a perspective change!

God’s presence is really the solution to all of our problems. We can gain so much from just understanding how God truly feels about us. He paid the ultimate price for our sin, so that we never have to be separated from Him again. If we feel separated, it may be time to spend some intentional time in His presence. 

I invite you today to get alone with God in His presence. Invite Him to talk to you about what He wants to talk to you about. Invite Him to show you how He really feels about you. I guarantee it will change you. You might not get all your questions answered or problems solved. In fact, you probably won’t. But you will experience God in a new and deeper way. Experiencing God is worth more than getting our questions answered. 

In Revelation 4:1 God is speaking with John and God tells John “Come up here, and I will show you things…” (NKJV) I think more often than not God is willing and wanting to show us things from a different perspective, a Heavenly perspective. However, we are so caught up in our present and pressing circumstances we are not willing to pause in God’s presence and hear what is in His heart. 

James 4:8(TPT) says, “Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting.”

When we draw close to God and are willing to hear the things that matter to Him, we can leave His presence with a completely different perspective. Usually the perspective we leave with is better than anything we can reason out. 

Remember friend, God is always for you. Never against you. He loves you more than you can understand. I encourage you to make a habit of pausing in his presence and hearing what the Lord might want to speak to you about. It will definitely change the way you think.

For More great posts on the importance of Pause, check out these links.

Pause: How to Take an Adult Time Out by Amy Cobb. https://www.tayloredintent.com/blog/pause-how-to-take-an-adult-time-out

Power of the Pause by Ashley Olivine https://www.ashleyolivine.com/power-of-the-pause/

Don’t Stress, Pause and Refresh by Regina Marcazzo-Skarka https://wordpress.com/post/reginamarcazzoskarka.com/147

When Hitting Pause is What We Need by Dianne Vielhuber https://simplewordsoffaith.com/2023/02/01/letting-your-doing-and-being-collide/

The Pause that Creates by MelAnn https://lifesouvenirs.net/p/the-pause-that-creates