The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1892-05-26
! DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
LsxIAH- ITS USE AND MEANING.
H.. sunday Sermon as Delivered by the
Brooklyn Divine.
-. nSelnh.r lxI.. 3.

this word OF my text as Ol no iipOr .auSo.
,rbov consider IL a superfluity, mere filling
in q meaningless interjection, a useless re-
frnin. an underlined echo. Selahl But
bovs 10 tell Won that IL is no Scriptural ac-
cident II occurs seveuty-four times IN the
Pook Of Psalms aud three times IN tue BOOK
OF Habakhuk. You must not cnsrge thls
reriect book with seventy-seven trlViallties.
Selnhl IL is an enthroued word. IL, accord
inc 70 an old writer, some words are battles,
tben this word Is Marathon, Thermopy-
IN, a Sedan, Waterloo. IL is n word de-
cisive sometimes for poetic beauty, some
times for grandeur, ana sometlmes IN. , nor
eternal import. Through II roll the thun-
deriug chariots Of the Onnipotent God.
take this word for my text because am
an often nsked what Is its meaning, or
whether 10 has any meaning at all. IL mas
m ocean of meaning, from which shou
this morning dip up only Tour OF nve VuuN, .,s,
etfus. / will speak to you. so Tar as nave
time. OF the Selah of poetic significance, the
Selah of iutermission, the Selah OF emphasis
and the Selah OF perpciuity.
Are you surprised that l speak OF the
Selah Of poetic signitcances Surely the uod
yybo sapphired the heavens and made the
earth n rosebud of beauty, with oceans
hanging TO il like drops OF morning dew
xvo,,ld not make n Bible without rhythm,
Il without reiolence, without blank verse.
. God knew that eventually the biole would
q be read hy great majority OF young Peo'
n an octogeparian Is exceptional, and as thirty
wears Is more than the average OF human
#life IL the Bible Is to be n successful book IL
<.snust bo adapted Co the young. Herce the
3 <prosoiy OF the Bible-the drama of job, the
Fl pastoral of Ruth, the epic OF Ju ises tne
81 *,lithyrn,nbic OF Habakkuk, the threnody of
.:-Jeremiah, the lyric of Solomon's song, the
oratorio OF the Apocalypse, the idyl, the
/ktrophe and antistrophe, and the Seiah oil
f(<he Psilms. ~ u,
M Wherever YOU find this word Ssah IL
means that you ARE to rouse up 10 greaO
- tangl, that you are TO open your soul 70
@1yreat anaogics, that you are TO spread the
.<sying OF your imagination for great Hight.
"A, II nnswerel thee IN the secret place ot thuI-
'Exier. | proved thee at the waters OF MERRIAM.
Selah.i "rhe earth and ell the inhabitants
I4hereof are dissolveI; / bear up the pillars
n IL Selah.p "Who is the King of Glory
{Ihe Lord OF Hosts, He is the King OF Glory
kelah,n "rhou shalt compass me about with
!. Rpngs of deliverance. Selah." "Ihough
+ //kbe waters thereof ruar and be troubled
though tho mountains shake with the swell
W1pc thereof. Selah." 'The Lord of Hosts 4
lah.n ."Thou hast given banner to theu
70 fear Thee that it may be displaye'
xause of the truth. Selah." ~ will hid
1er tho covert OF Thy wings. Selah.
God, when Thou wentest forth before
XW people, when Thou didst march tnrouS
hoever Won find this word it Is n signn
rninc hung out to tell you TO stand OF
ack while the rushing train goes b,
its imperial passengers, Poetic word
fged with sunrise ami sunset, ana tempes
earthquake, and resurrections an
1ennums.
Next como 10 speak OF the Selah OF in
rmission. C;esenius, Tholucs, Hengsteu
"a '.g and other writers agree In saying tina
80 word Selsh means n rest In music: VIVA
Xle Greeks call diapsalma, pause, hal
\ HA q solemn march of cantillation.
r. II Ahry musician knows the Importance {
/, ~ ~ you ever saw Julien, the grss
= c b.; ssssa. x.-n nd .Iefas'~' a., thousan
n, us hallelujah into ~ ''CS9T A2
nehfter that, with anothe.nt 'Tsel
ton rose up the full orchestra 20 az .
xva AltDurst OF harmony, then you know "
""+Shehty effect of musical pause. IL civ;
tP more power to what went before; it Civ,
more power TO what Is to come after,
u 80 God thrusts the Seah into His Bib
ana INTO our lives. compelling us to stop an
tnlnk, stop and consider, stop and admir-,
stop and pray, stop and repent, stop and b
SICK, stop and die. It is not the great mum
per OF times that we read the Bible throug
that makes us intelligent in the Scripture,
we must pause. What though it take a
hour Tor one wordf What though il take
week ior one verseI What though it take
4 year Tor ono chapter? We must PAUSE AM
measure the height, the depth, the length
tne breadth, the universe the eternity OF
meaning in one verse
lshould like to see some one sail aroun,
one nttie adverb in the Bible a little advert
ol Two letters, during one elifetime-the worr
so In the New Testament passape u;o,
so loved the world" Augustine made n lono
pause after the verse, put ye on the Lore
Sesus Ihrlst," and IL converted him Mat
.new Henry made long pause after tn,
Nerse, open Thou my lips, and my mouth
81 sdah Ism snow forth forth Thy PRAISE" and it convert
pause after the verse, "Being freely Justified
Cy ms grace" and it converted him. When
Nou teiis US seventy-seven times meditatiyely
70 pause IN reading two books of the Bible
ne eieaves 10 our common sense TO decide
otha olteh we should pause in reading the
o'nsr sixty-four books of the Bibe.
!" must pause and ask for morn lipbt
Il % wo must pause and weep over our sins We
must pause ana absorb the strength of one
a promise. sometimes hear people boasting
p1t ISpu, now many times. they have read the
.nn,e ehrougn, when they seem to know no
more about 1t than a passenger would know
ABOUT the state of Pennsylvania who shonld
tso through 1t In st. Louis liehtninO az.
press train and IN Pullman .sieeper,n the
n.wo CHARACTERISTICS OF the journey, velocity
anu somnolence. IL is not the number Of
nuh LILIES you go through the Bible but tho
umoer OF times the Bible goes through Won.
tause, reflect. Selahl ''"
90 aiso on the scroll of your life ami mind.
we 80 rushing on in the song of our pros.
PeriSy from note OF joy TO note OF ioy, aud II
Is a long drawn out legato and we become
lhdiferent and unappreciatlve when snd-
1enly We como upon a blank In the music
there is nothing between those bars a
pause. God will fill it up with u sick bed
or commercial disaster, or a grave. Rnt
thank God IL is not breaking down II -
only a pause. 1t helps us TO appreciate the
Diessin9s that are gone IL gives us higher
come. N'S ="
The selah Of Habakkuk and David Ia n
aiSiding line bstween two anthems, David
begins his book with tho words. ',Blessed h
the man, and after seventy-four Selahs he
eo'ss ss ms book with the words, praise We
the Lord" So there are mercles behind NJ
and there are going 10 be mercies before us
us good for us that God halts US ip our for.
tunes, and halts US with physical distress
and halts us at tho graves OF our dead Mora
,nh snan one, you and l have been halted by
soid. 81 Seiah: You wrung your hands and
salui Il can't SOC any sense In this Provi-
suenee; I can't SEQ why God gave me that