A Sparrow's Selah

What brings you here?

Maybe you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, a shattered relationship, or the person you thought you would become. Maybe you’re living with chronic pain, wrestling with depression or consuming anxiety, carrying the pieces of broken dreams, or facing an uncertain future. Maybe the weariness of your soul has become a burden that feels impossible to bear, and you’re questioning whether it’s even worth carrying on anymore. Maybe, with an aching heart, you’ve whispered into the darkness,

“How much longer, Lord?”.

If that describes your journey, friend, you are seen here.

I pray that A Sparrow’s Selah would be a balm to your soul and gently point you to the One who knows your heart. A Sparrow’s Selah was born from my own journey through these same heartaches and the gentle, though often painful, pruning work God has been doing in my own life.

So, what does “Selah” mean?

Let’s dig a little deeper. The word Selah appears 71 times throughout the Psalms and three times in Habakkuk. The psalmists used Selah during different seasons of their lives. You’ll find it in moments of lament, worship, and remembering God’s faithfulness. Despite appearing 74 times in scripture, Selah has never been fully defined. In fact, scholars still haven’t been able to agree on what it means. Some would say it is a call to pause. Another would say it is a chance to pause and reflect on what was just said… or even sung. We can’t forget that many of the Psalms were meant to be sung. Others would say that it was a musical instruction for the musicians, potentially signaling them to pause, while another scholar would suggest that it marked the place where the music was meant to swell and crescendo.

Despite the lack of specifics, there is one recurring theme: an invitation to pause. That pause is a moment to reflect on what was just said. The pause is not meant to end there; it should result in us reflecting on how God’s truth can reshape our hearts and minds and recapture our spiraling thoughts.

Many of the entries you’ll find here will be born from my own moments of pausing and reflecting. In fact, the name A Sparrow’s Selah came to mind while I was doing just that. I was thinking of name possibilities, yet I was also thinking about all that God has done.

With that reminder of the sparrow and my curiosity about the word Selah in my favorite book of the Bible, A Sparrow’s Selah was born.