Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-05-28


derstood Old Testament Expressions
Practical Lessons for Christians.
BROOKLYN, May 29.-Rev. DR.. Tal7
mage today took for the subject of his
sermon single word of frequent occur
renee in the Bible. and whose meaning
is but little understood. From it he
drew profoundly impressive descrip-
ton of tho varied and majestic purposes
of certain parts of Scripture, and a prac-
tical lesson for Christians generally.
The toxt was Psalms Xxi. 4. "Selah.
Tho majority of Bible readers look
upon this word of my text as OF no i'm
portancc. They consider it superfu-
ity, mere filling in. u meaningless in
terjection. a useless refrain, an unde-
fined echo. Selah! But have to tell
you that it is no Scriptnral accident. 1t
occurs seventy-four times in the Book of
Psalms and three times in tho Book Of
Habakkuk. You must not charge this
perfect book with seventy-seven triviali-
ties. Selah! 1t is an enth-oned word.
II, according to an old writer. some
words are battles, then this word is q
Marathon. Ther,nopylm. n Sedan. q
! Waterloo 1t is Il word decisive, some
tilres for poetic beauty, sometimes for
selemnity, sometimes for grandeur, and
sometimes for eternal import Through
| it roll the laundering ch,lYiots of the
o,nnipotent Cod.
take this word for my text because j
am so often asked what is its meaning,
or whether it has any meaning ut I'LL. 1t
has an ocean Ut meaning. from which
shall this morning dip up only four or
five bucketfuls. will speak to you, 80
far as have time. of the Selah Of poetic
significance, the Selll of intermission,
the Selah of emphasis and the Selah of
perpetrity.
Arc you surprised that speak of the
Sulah Of poetic signilicance2 Surely the
God who snpphired the heavens AND
made the earth Il rosebud of beauty,
with oceans hanging to 1t like drops of
morning dew, would not make Bible
without rhythm, without redolence,
without blank verse. God knew that
eventually the Bible wonld he read by q
great majority of young people, for in
this world Of malaria and casualty an
cctogcnarian is exceptional! and us thir-
ty years is more than the average Of
human life, if the Bible is to be sue
cessful book it must be adapted to the
young. Hence the prosody of the Bible
the drama of Job, the pastoral Of
Ruth, the eric of Judges, the dithyram-
bic of Habakkuk. the threnody of .lere-
lniah. the lyric of Solo,non's- Song, the
oratorio of the Apocalypse. the idyl. tho
strophe and antistrophe. and the Selah
of the Psalms.
IT'S GREAT SIGNIFICANCE.
Wherever you find this word Selah, it
means that you are to ro,lse up to great
stanza. that you arc to open your soul to
great analogics. that you are to spread
tho wing Of your imagination for great
flight Il answered thee inthc secret
place of thunder; | proved thee at the
waters of Ieribah. Selah. THE earth
rad all the inhabitants thereof are dis
solved; | bear up tine pillars Of 1t. Sc
lah.r WHO'S this King of Glory? TIE
Lord of Hosts. he is the King Of Glory
Selah." "Thou shalt compass me about
with songs Of delivcrance Sclah."
Though the waters thereof roar AMI be
troubled, though tho mountains shake
with the swelling thereof. Selah.'
.The Lord of Hosts is with rs, the God
Of Jacob is orr refuge Selnh. Thou
hast given II banner to them that fear
thee, that it may he displayed because
of the truth. Sclah." 81 will hideun-
der the covert of thy wings. Selah."
.Oh, God, when thou wentest forth be-
fore thy people, when thou didst march
through the wilderness. Selah."
Whorcver you find this word it is sig
nal of warming hing out to tell yon to
stand of the track while the rushing
train goes by with its imperial passen-
gers. Poetic word. charged with SIM
rise and sunset. md tempest and earth
quake, and resurrectiOns and milieD-
NUNS.
| Next come to speak of the Selah of
ipterluission. Gesenius. Tholuck, Heng
stenberg and other writer's agree in say
ing that this word Selah means Il rest in
music: what the Greeks call dap
J salma, u pause. a halt in the solemn
march of cantillation.
Every musician knows the Importance
of it. If you ever saw Julien, the great
musical leader. stand before five thou
sand singers and players upon instru-
ments, and with one stroke of his baton
srnite the mulritudinous hallelulah into
silence, aad then, soon after that. with
another stroke of his baton rouse up the
full orchestra to great outburst of har-
inony, then you know the mighty effect
Of n musical pause. 1t gives more pow
er to what went before: it gives more
novcr to what is to come after.
So God thrusts the Selah into his Bible
and into our lives. compelling us to stop
and think, stop and consider. stop and
admire, stop and pray. stop aud repent
stop and be sick, slpi, and die. 1t is not
the great number of times that we read
tho Bible through that makes Ms intelli-
gent in the Scriptures. We mast pause
What though it takean hour for one
wor,ls What though it take week for
INC verse: What though it take year
for ono chapter: We must pause and
measure the height, the depth, the
length, the breadth. the universe, the
eternity of meaning in one verse.
Il should like to sce some one sail
around one little adverb in the Bible, a
little adverb of two letters. during one
lifetime-the word SO i'll the New
Testament passage, God so loved the
world" Augustine made long pause
20 verse, Put We on the Lord -le-
sus Christ, and it converted him. Mat
thew Henry made long pause after the