The Spiritual Song - Exploring Prophetic Worship by Mike Herron

SELAH-

Selah appears in the Psalms 71 times and in the Book of Habakkuk 3 times. It always appears in the Psalms of David, Asaph and Sons of Korah supporting the theory that it is a marginal note giving musical direction to the prophetic musicians in the Tabernacle of David. The meani ng of ‘Selah’ from its verbal stem, the root word from which it is der ived, is ‘lifting up, a ladder…an ascent or steps…a musical rise…the musical meaning amounts to a strengthening of some kind…the interlude, especially of the stringed instruments…an inte nsified playing … the joining in of the orchestra, or a reinforcement of the instruments, or even a transition from piano to forte (soft to loud) .’ 10 These definitions from Keil and Delitzsch tell us that during the Psalm,that was many times prophetic and spontaneous, the instruments would join the singers with greater intensity or play an interlude with increased emotional lift. If we can interpret the small data connected to this word, it would mean that the instruments themselves played prophetically or in concert with the voices. It would not be beyond the spirit of the psalms to ask the musicians to ‘Selah’, to prophesy on their instruments.

10 Keil and Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. 1982 William & Erdman’s Publishing Company. Vol. 5, pages 102, 103 Grand Rapids, Michigan