I Wish Selah Was Put Here

74 times in the Psalms, the word "Selah" appears. Selah refers to a musical pause where those listening have a time to pause and reflect on what they heard. Selah does not appears in every Psalm, but there is one verse I wished it did appear:

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:8-10).

I wished Selah was put after verse 10 because these verses in Psalms reflect God's love for His people. Now I am not saying the Biblically inspired writers were wrong for not putting it there because all scripture has been "breathed out by God" (2 Timothy 3:16) nor am I questioning God why this is not in the Bible. If that were the case, then I would be addressing bigger issues.

I want you to reflect on the fact that God, even though He was angry because of His holiness throughout the Old Testament, is a God who is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger. When we approach God, he will not do it in a way that will make us feel like we are being punished because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. We can approach God without fearing Him being angry at us because of our sin thanks to Jesus being our advocate (see 1 John 2:1-2). Hebrews 10:22 says, we can approach God "in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience."

Verse 10 is where the Selah needs to be. God will not deal with us according to our sins. For a child of God who possess faith in Christ and is clothed in the righteousness of Christ can rest in the grace of God knowing that God will treat us as if were we were without sin, which is justification. God has dealt with the full wrath of God for our sin when Jesus died in our place while being nailed to the cross.

The last part of verse 10 says, God will not "repay us according to our iniquities." What amazes me about some people inside the church is this idea that God will repay us back for all our sins even though they have confessed their sin and repented. I know in my life there are times I have confessed my sins, repented of that sin, and then find myself repeating that sin. I know that I can come to God and confess that sin even if its the 100th time I committed that sin, and receive forgiveness and grace. Some Christians think that God will one day say to them, "I had enough. To Hell with you." Because of Jesus, Christians do not need to be afraid that God will repay us because of our sin. Does God discipline His children? Yes, Hebrews 12 teaches that but only to reap holiness, but the punishment for our sins were put on Jesus. God will not deal with us because of our sins nor pay us back for it. That should cause us to pause and reflect on the gospel. The gospel shows us the love of God toward sinners. Verse 10 is where I wish Selah was written there because it should allow us to pause and meditate on God's gift of redemption through the work of Christ on the cross.