Selah - Interlude

"Selah" is "a musical term. Peter Craigie discusses the meaning in an excursus in his commentary on the Psalms in the Word Biblical Commentary (vol 19), pp.76-77. He says it occurs 71 times in Psalms and 3 times in Hab. The meaning is still not positively certain. Possibilities are:

a) "rest" (the LXX uses diaspsalma)
b) "for ever" (this is how the Targum understands it)
c) as an indicator that the congregation is to prostrate itself at that point in the singing ~ From here

I like what this guy Jim says : "Personally I think it marks a pause in the music (like an interlude) intended to offer the singer/hearer an opportunity to reflect on what has been said- hence it means something like "pause a minute and think about this"

That's why I love moments like yesterday's Thursday worship rehearsal where after working through the musical/lyrical & arrangement bits, we could sit on the floor in a circle and share one "exciting" bit of our lives lately and move into a time of mutual prayer and support.

It's a needed "Selah" moment . A wonderful "Interlude"!

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