I think we need to pause and reflect. Often. Far more often than we currently do. Scripture says, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Php 4:8) Or, "Selah." Pause and reflect.
It is my suspicion that stopping and thinking is not something we do well and, perhaps, not even something we're comfortable with. Noise is our preference. Maybe music. Maybe TV. Maybe movies. Maybe computers or phones or whatever else we can throw up there so we just don't stop and think. Silence, sometimes, seems frightening.
So, selah. Pause and reflect. Reflect on the holy, holy, holiness of God. That alone could take a great deal of time. Consider how large His Omnipotence is. Meander through the magnitude of His Sovereignty. Snuggle into the joy of His Goodness. Remember, positive and negative, His Righteous Justice -- positive because He always does what is right and negative because sometimes that will rightly cause us discomfort. (Did I say that lightly enough?) Ponder God. His many attributes and activities. His greatness and His closeness. Selah.
Oh, there is surely more to ponder. There is a long list of "true" and "honorable" and all of the rest that Scripture says we should dwell on. I recommend them, too. But take that first step and selah -- pause and ponder. You might grow to like it. It might change you.
Be still, and know that I am God. (Psa 46:10)
3 comments:
Isn't weird how that word has eluded translation. I guess yours is as good as any. I recall someone at church reading Psalms during service and he said the word when he came upon it. When I read, I simply passed over it as I don't believe it was meant to be said when reading (or singing) the Psalms in which it appeared. It would be like saying your dialogue from a script and adding the direction, "said in anger" or some such.
(As an aside, Php 4:8 has been forever corrupted in that I can't read or hear it without thinking of how it's been abused by someone to justify sexually immoral behavior.)
"(As an aside, Php 4:8 has been forever corrupted in that I can't read or hear it without thinking of how it's been abused by someone to justify sexually immoral behavior.)"
Don't let the losers win. I know a lot of good things that have been subverted by evil people. I won't surrender those good things because of it.
I don't. But it isn't easy to forget such abuses. I'm still cool on the actual teaching. It's just that hearing or reading the verse conjures the abuse in my mind.
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