Letter from Dan Dowd – April 4, 2025
Sabbath Thought – Selah
We live in a time when life is very frantic, but also in an unprecedented age of labor-saving appliances and electronics. God’s Sabbath is however a bastion of rest – both physically and spiritually. The Sabbath is a reminder to have a slower pace of life than the world around us so we remember to listen to that “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:5-12).
The Psalms are filled with this reminder. The word in these reminders is Selah (sea’-la) – meaning “to pause” as in music. Out of the 74 times this word is used in scripture, only three are not in the Psalms (Habakkuk 3:3, 3:9, and 3:13). Its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, but many believe Selah also means “to lift up, or exalt”. It is a dynamic verb that shows continued or progressive action on the part of the subject.
Thirty-one of the thirty-nine psalms with the caption "To the choir-master" include the word selah. David certainly was a musician, but as he used this word it is obvious it is not just about a pause or suspension of music. While most of the psalms were put to music, the content of the psalms is focused on God and our relationship with Him. When we consider the word Selah in this context, it takes on a very powerful reminder.
Do we use the time we have been given in God’s Sabbath to pause to consider Him – His character, who He is (1 John 4:8), His love for us (John 3:16, 1 John 4:19), and what He would have us do (Genesis 17:1, John 14:15, Philippians 2:5)? Do we pause to consider what we should see in the Sabbath regarding God’s plan of salvation, His holiness, and how we are to become like Him (Matthew 18:3, John 1:12)? Do we pause to simply remember this world is passing and we must be focused on the Kingdom of God? Do we pause to allow Him to speak to us in a still, small voice?
Every Sabbath we can assemble before the God of the universe in His holy time as a group. When we do, let’s make the most of the “pause” we have been given to remember what He is doing in us, for us, and through us.
I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,
Dan Dowd
5 April, 2025
Dan Dowd
Dan currently pastors 3 congregations in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Wisconsin Dells). He has been associated with God’s church since he was a young boy.
Dan has an Associate degree in Commercial Art with almost 25 years in the publishing/advertising field. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree (in Theology) from Ambassador College (graduating in 1986), was ordained an elder in 1997 and then was hired full time in 2004 as a minister in United Church of God.
Dan currently lives just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife Roxanne.
