Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah. (Psalm 62:8)

I love the movement of Psalm 62. It begins with trust. For God alone, my soul waits in silence. Psalm 62 starts there, with trust in God, and then the psalm shifts in verse 3. We move from praising God to vocalizing the pain of the psalmist. The psalmist doesn’t hold back. Things can be difficult. People can be mean and two-faced. We can fill in our own blanks here with our own pain, and I for one appreciate that the psalmist doesn’t condemn anyone for vocalizing their pain. There is a place for naming what weighs on our hearts. What I really like about Psalm 62, though, is how after vocalizing his pain, the psalmist takes a deep breath.

Selah.

It’s not universally accepted what “Selah” means, but I’m in the camp of those who believe it’s the equivalent of a musical rest. It’s a deep breath written into the poetry. Vocalize what weighs on you. Now breathe. Recenter. For God alone, my soul waits in silence.

That pause and refocus is so important for our spiritual health. A “soul waiting in silence” isn’t necessarily a verbally silent soul; it’s restoring an inner quiet so we can see and feel more clearly what it looks like to do the next right thing. As a people of faith who love and follow Jesus, we keep a pulse on our spiritual health so we are able to fulfill the prime directive, which is to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We often hear it said we can’t care for others as well if we don’t care for ourselves, and I hear quite often the hard part of the “love your neighbor” command is the “as yourselves” part. Our spiritual health is a part of our whole being and taking care of our spiritual wellness is a piece of how we love ourselves. We strive towards a goal of spiritual wellness when we can both vocalize our pain and turn back to God as the source of real life and love. It’s not to diminish our pain or say that our suffering doesn’t matter. It’s also not to suggest that we suffer because we didn’t praise God hard enough. Psalm 62 isn’t here to shame us; it’s here to remind us that in the middle of whatever else is happening, God is still God. God alone is God. Let God be God.

Give yourself the gift of a Selah moment, a holy deep breath written into the script of your life. May you find space to pause and breathe today.