“The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” (Psalms 46:7)
Stop and listen. Get this. Don’t miss it. Ponder it for a minute. Pause before continuing. Value this.
That’s how scholars describe the meaning of that word “Selah.” It shows up in our Bibles most often in psalms, or songs, meant to be sung by the choir, but it seems to carry more weight than just a musical direction. It apparently urges us to reflect on what has just been written (or sung).
Fear is a normal response when an enemy is attacking, when the bad news is piling up, when it feels like everything you care about is threatened. But God is with us, and he is the ultimate safe place. Once he is with you, there is no where safer to run.
Think about that.
Think: Does feeling afraid ever make you want to run away from God? What other, less safe “fortresses” do you run to when you’re scared? Why?
Pray: Thank God that he is with you and that he is your fortress. Ask him to help you to run to him and trust him most when you are afraid.
Do: Read this quote from C.S. Lewis and then selah:
“It is a dreadful truth that the state of (as you say) ‘having to depend solely on God’ is what we all dread most. And of course that just shows how very much, how almost exclusively, we have been depending on things. But trouble goes so far back in our lives and is now so deeply ingrained, we will not turn to Him as long as He leaves us anything else to turn to.”