Selah Moments - Introduction

​Dr. Mike Richardson

Introduction:

1. Luke 2:19 “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
2. I find it interesting that Luke 2:19 is the only place in all of the Bible that the word pondered is use.
3. The word pondered has the following definition: “To think about something carefully especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion”
4. There is a small word in the Old Testament that means pretty much the same thing.
5. This little word is found 71 times in the book that was the hymnal of Old Testament
6. These divinely inspired songs play on the keyboard of the human soul
7. That book is the Book of Psalms. These psalms were set to music
8. This small word we will be discussing also appears 3 times in the Book of Habakkuk
9. This little word that is so often passed over in a very interesting word
10. In fact, there is much conjecture about the word, Selah.  Theologians offer diverging opinions about it:

• Some say that its point of origin cannot be determined
• Some say that its meaning cannot be determined
• Others say that it is a musical note where one pauses and thinks about what they just said
• Others say it is an Aramaic worship word meaning to “lift up”
• Selah comes from the Hebrew root word “Calah”
• It mean “To Hang”, “To Measure”, “To determine the value of something”
• For example, a diplomat must weigh his words carefully
• The word selah is man’s weak attempt to comprehend the exceeding riches of His grace Eph. 2:7 “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”

1. So, the idea of the musical pause to mediate on what has just be said is very similar
2. So then, selah is a signature exhortation from God for our reflection and weighing of what we just read.
3. The word “Amen” has a similar idea to that of selah. Amen has the meaning “so be it” and is also a reflection of confidence.
4. This reflection and weighing of God’s words and our own words comes best from the gleaning and comparison of scripture with scripture.
5. This is in line with the words of Isaiah in 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
6. I do not like telling you this, but there are many televangelists who do not weigh their words carefully comparing scripture with scripture. Their words are weighed in the balances and “found wanting.”
7. With this idea of “hanging of God’s word and measuring its eternal value, and with this time of the year, allow me to discuss the preeminent example found in the book of Luke
8. It is the first song of the Incarnation of our Savior. It was sung by his mother, Mary
9. Anna and Simeon also had their “Selah Moments”
10. As you know, there are always critics. Critics argue that Mary could not have written this song. They argue that:

• Mary is too young to have written it
• They argue that it her song is too packed with Old Testament references
• They argue that the song is too carefully structured, too poetic, too polished, and too subtill to be written by a young country girl
• They argue that it is too theological for such a young girl to have sung
• They contend that Luke “borrowed” from the Maccabees or the Qumran Jews
• Here the critics fail to comprehend the power of the Holy Spirit and her culture
• The critics are right about one thing. It is sublime
• As we consider Mary’s  “Selah Moments”, there are 3 areas I wish to discuss:
• The elevation of her soul
• Her personal reasons for her song
• The moral reversals that her son will bring