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As I said earlier, at the end of the first song of worship, it's our first Selah service, and it's way outside of normal for so many of us. We just are so fast. But how many remember the days when you had to be slow? Like, you had to write letters and wait for the letter to come back in the mail? I mean, some of you are like that. I don't even know that. And you'd write and you'd wait and hope to see that they get back to you. Or how many know that you'd listen to your favorite song on the radio and then you're like, I wonder how long till they'll play it again. You couldn't just push repeat. You'd be like. And you change maybe to another station, hoping to hear your favorite and speed up the process by looking at another, you know, or the news. Like, you had to wait for the news. It came at night. Now we're getting real time news. And our new favorite thing is to say, grok, is that true? Is that true? Like, is that really real? Verify this real time news. And so there was a time when we slowed down. And it's good for us right now to slow down. And so I'm gonna go to Psalm 3 in just a little bit. We're gonna talk about prayer and where the first selah is mentioned. And I wanna let you know, you could say it, selah, Selah. Selah is the more formal version, but selah is what we're gonna go with. And up front, I wanna let you know that this word, which. It kinda means to rest or to pause or to stop and ponder, we really don't know the origin of this word. There's a lot of words, we know the origin where they come from. We know their original meaning. This is one of those ones that's kinda. We don't really know where it came from and we don't know the original meaning. But we put it all together, theologians have done. And they're trying to wonder, was it a marker for musicians? Like, here's this spot. And. And you're gonna know this. Singers and musicians, here's a spot that you need to pause. Was it a musical interlude? They don't know if it was that in the Psalms, was it a moment for everyone to pause what they're doing and stop? So we don't know the exact. But I wanna let you know, wherever you see the word selah in the Bible, it's used after a weighty statement about God. It's something that's too big for us to just go right by. It's something that demands us to stop and just ponder this. And to the best of our understanding, this word means to pause, to interlude, to rest. It means also to lift up, to exalt. It means to weigh, to value, to ponder. Some people have put these together and says selah means like to pause, to lift up our praise. Others are saying to stop and thoughtfully exalt. And I love what the amplified, amplified version says via amplified translation, it says, pause and calmly think of that. I think that's a beautiful thing. And I like that definition there for Selah of pause and calmly think of that. In a world that's running 100 miles an hour, that chaos demands our attention and pushes forward with the headlines. God's saying, pause and calmly think of that. After the weighty things that I say in the Bible. It appears 74 times in the Bible. It's found in Psalms and in Habakkuk. Habakkuk, Chapter three is a prophetic prayer, and it's found there. Otherwise, it's found in Psalms, and it marks that moment where people just stop what was just said about God? Or what is the reality that we need to grab from this big statement? So in Psalm 3, it's the first mention of Selah, and it doesn't teach us how to pray. If I wanted to teach us how to pray, we'd probably go to Luke chapter 11, and we look at the Lord's Prayer. Cause the disciples said, lord, teach us how to pray. But I wanted to launch with our first Selah service to explain what it is, but then also go where it was first found. And it's actually David's prayer. And in this prayer, it's a beautiful thing. He's praying first. He's praying first. And he's not thinking like, okay, it's my last resort. I'll turn to God. Psalm 3 is saying, Prayer is our first cause. And for many of us, it's like we've tried everything else. And then we get to prayer. And there's a battle that's going on in David's life. His world's collapsing. His son is leading a rebellion. His enemies are multiplying. Voices are telling him. They're saying, it's over, it's over. God's not gonna be faithful to you. You, you're done for. And that's where we pick up Psalm 3. And there's something here that David is saying, I'm turning towards you, God. All these enemies are coming against me. All of my troubles are out there. All these voices are saying, it's over, but I'm turning towards you. And this prayer, God in Psalm 3 is my desperate cry to you. And I'll say this like, the crisis in my life. I have never enjoyed any crisis that I've had. But every crisis pulls me to God, Pulls me to God. And I can't help it. I know you're not in this room, but I looked and I saw Dean over here in the front row. I was like, he had a crisis and it pulled him towards God. And I see Emily here, and I'm like, I know she's facing a crisis in her family and it's pulling her towards God. That's what they do to us. They do to us. And wherever you're at your campus, you probably look around the room and I pray that you know the people in the church close enough that you know who's having something that's pulling them towards God and that you can be used by God. Do you know that? A hug and encouragement, just letting them know you're praying for him, letting them know you're standing with them. That's so valuable. So valuable. It's part about being the body of Christ. But David's crisis is causing him to turn. And he goes there right away. And the first thing is before the battle, and it's the necessity of prayer. And in Psalm 3, verses 1 and 2, oh, Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him and God. Selah David says, pause, ponder. When you have many problems, when you have many people beating you down, when the voices in your mind and the voices around you are are saying, there's no hope for you, there's no hope for you. And he says, stop. Like they're saying, there's no salvation in my God. That's something I gotta stop and think about. Is that true? That's not true. If you ponder on that, it's like, that's not true. They're saying this, but the pause makes you go, but how many know if you don't pause, you start. Their voices start mobilizing in your head and multiplying. And next thing you know, like, it's true, it's true, it's true. And it's not. And so he says, in the midst of this struggle, in the midst of the rebellion, in the midst of all that's going on, God, I'm pausing and I'm thinking. They say there's no salvation in you. I'm pausing. That's not true. This pause is helping me to realize that it's not true. I can turn towards you. I can turn towards you. Philippians 4. 6. The apostle Paul says, do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Everything we face, we should say, hey, I'm not going to be anxious about this. I'm not going to let the voices of the enemy cause me to think that God's not true. I'm not going to let those voices cause me to not turn to the one that will answer prayers. Beautiful thing. He turns towards God, and he's like, I'm not listening to that. They say that there's no salvation. But, Selah, I'm gonna ponder this. I'm gonna reflect. I know they're not true. And then during the battle, in verses three and four, he says, but you, O Lord, are a shield about me. This is beautiful. He's got Selah. He's like. They're like, there's no God. And he said, wait. After I thought about this, guess what, God? You, oh, Lord, are a shield about me. You're my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from the holy hill. Selah, he says, God, you are amazing. You are my shield about me. I don't have a shield just in front of me. You are a 360 shield around me. Somebody needs to hear that right now. He's a 360 shield around you, and you think you're holding up the shield. And God's like, no, I am your shield. I am your shield around you. And he says, you're my glory. Like, I don't get my glory in what people say about me. I get my glory and you're my glory. Like, I. What you say about me matters. And then he says, you're the lifter of my head. You're the lifter of my head. Like, how many know when the enemy beats you down with all the struggles of this world you can got? You're just looking down. You're just like coming to church. You're like, I don't even know. And God's like, no, I'm the lifter of your head. Look up. I've got you. I've got you. And some of you need to hear that. He's got your problem. He's got your situation. I just feel this right now. Maybe at one of the campuses or in this room, somebody said Well, I wish Pastor Rob would have said my name. Maybe he doesn't know me well enough. Can I tell you something? God knows what you're going through, and he's the lifter of your head. And he's right now saying, look up, look up, look up. I've got you. And right after he says this, he. He says, he. I cried out loud, and he answered me from his holy hill. And he said, I'm going to think about this. I want to ponder about this. I want you to understand our. Our cries to God are small voices, but his answers are coming from a big voice. He's like, I've got this. I've got this. I heard you. And from my holy hill, from a place of authority, I am speaking to your issue, your situation, your struggle, and I've got you. It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. And in this pause here, David is saying, reflect on which voice will define your reality. I wanna say it again. Reflect on which voice will define your reality. If you are facing a struggle in your life, whether it's today or up ahead or it's been in the past, you have to stop and define which voice will define your reality. Is it the voice of the world, the voice of the enemy, the voice of fear and discouragement and abandonment? Or is it the voice that says, I'm answering you from the holy hill. I've got you. And he says, selah, I will pause and I will know the one that will define my reality. Then after the battle, in verse five through eight, he says, I laid down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord. Save me, O my God. For you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Let me pause for just a moment there. You know what that means? He said, you shut the mouth of my accusers. That's what he said. He said, you, like, punched him in the face and they had to be quiet. Like, I just like that. I just like that. I like that. David's like, you know what you did to my enemies? You punched me in the face. They can't even talk anymore. God, you shut up my enemies. Wow. Then he says, salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people. Selah. Pause and reflect on that. His perspective has changed. He's still in Psalm 3. He's still in the battle. He's still in the battle, but there's been a breakthrough. There's been A breakthrough in prayer. And that's what I'm praying for today, that we'll have a breakthrough in prayer. I'm praying that you'll have a breakthrough. You're still in the battles that you're facing. Some of you are gonna have instant deliverance and miracles and some of you are gonna have a complete perspective change as you're in the battle. And you're like walking in victory. And it's almost gonna be a confidence that's otherworldly. And the best way I can say this is I remember when my brother Roger was in a head on collision and they said he was gonna die. They medevaced him to hcmc and I fell to my knees and I started praying for him. I started praying, I started interceding and I was crying out to God, God, save Roger, save Roger. All my friends in my college dorm room just started screaming, praying out with me, save Roger, save Roger. They didn't even know what I was. Cause I just got off the phone with my mom and she said, roger was in this accident. You need to pray that he won't die. And I was like, don't let him die, don't let him die, don't let him die. And in the midst of the battle, I could just feel God say, I've heard your prayer. I'm lord of this, I've got it under control. He's not gonna die. And I stood up, I said, he's good, he's good now. He was still in a coma for six more days. He was still in a coma. But in that moment, I was like, the prayer had changed everything. It's like David's like, I got it. I'm still in the midst of this battle, but I know that God is with me. I know that God's on my side. And what's interesting, the voices, even our residential advisor, I'm at Bible College, he comes over and he said to me later, he said, I actually just thought you were in denial, that you were in shock. He said you were like so confident that God had heard your prayer. And he said, I actually thought you were in denial of this. I said, I was not in denial. The prayer had changed my perspective. I had pondered on how great God was and I just felt like he told me, like, he's gonna live and not die. And bam. I was like, I'm living in this. He said, I see it now, but I didn't see it there. And David said, I won't be afraid. You've got me, You've Got me. You brought me in victory and you've brought me there. I wanna ask the worship team to get ready here and at all the campuses. He says, salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people, Selah. Calmly think of that. I just want you to know as we go to prayer today, David's prayer was for him, but it's a template for us. When the battle's coming or you're just getting started in it, stop, pause. Realize how powerful God is that the enemy's lying to you. There is no salvation. Stop, pause. It's like, get your head about you. Don't run around crazy. Stop, stop. When the battle's raging in the midst of it, go to God and say, God, I'm gonna keep praying and you can give me a word. You can change my perspective. And when the battle is over, you just walk around God, you are my confidence. I pause and I, I know that David was facing like an insurrection and all these other things going on in his world. But you might be facing a battle within your family right now. There might be a family member that is sideways to you. And it is a battle. There's a conflict. There might be somebody in our church that you, you have a restraining order against a family member. And you're like, God, I need you. I need you. There could be a battle going on in your school or your workplace. You could be having a battle. You're like, I feel like David, like, God, I need help. I need to get through this. Because there's a battle raging at school or at work. There could be financial pressures that are on you. And you're like, where are you, God? You need to pause right now and pray and reflect on God's goodness and realize he's gonna get you through this. There could be health challenges. Health challenges. And you're like, I don't know how we're going to make it through this. I never wanted to know the name of that disease. We want to pray for healing in Jesus name. We want to pray. We want you to pause. Silence the voice of the enemy. Realize he's your 360 shield. Realize that he gives us the victory. In the midst of these storms. There's some that are in the entanglements and addictions of life. And you're wondering, who can set me free? Jesus can set you free. Jesus can set you free. Matter of fact, I know this is vulnerable, but if you've been. We won't ask you what it was, but if you've been set free from a life Controlling addiction. And you are living in victory. Now, I want you to raise your hand so people around you can see the testimony of God. Come on, raise your hand. Unashamed. Come on. Look at that. Look at that. God sets people free. That's what he does. That's what he does. I just got to share this because I just saw the guy in front of the camera. He did this. He raised his hand, too. He was like, praise God. I love that God's setting people free. He has the answer. And whatever your problem is, battles with this culture, entanglements, health, financial, school, work, family situation, God, we turn to you. We turn to you. The voice of the enemy will not win, Selah. We pause and reflect, and we calmly consider that those are lies from the enemy. When we pray, God, we know you hear us. When we pray, we are not just exercising, speaking words, but you hear us and you are our shield, Selah. We pause and we say, God, you are a shield. 360. And, God, we are confident in you. We are confident in you. I think what Paul said in Corinthians, he said, God delivered us and we are sure that he'll deliver us again and again and again. We are confident in you, and we ask you, God, to move again. So, Lord, as we get ready to worship again, I just pray that we, right now, in this room and online, we would have a time of praying for whatever our needs are. Praying for whatever our needs are. And, Lord, I don't know what everybody's facing, but in this service time right now, we just pause to say, speak to us. And we just wanna pour out our heart. We wanna pour out whatever we're facing. And so we just pray for the needs that we're bringing here. The needs that we're bringing here. Thank you, Lord. Whether it's out loud or under your breath, God hears and he wants you to say, I align with your word. The voice of the enemy will not win. I am stopping. I am pausing. I am calmly reflecting. God, you are in charge of this situation. There is victory in my school. There is victory in my workplace. There is victory over this disease. There is victory over the struggles that I'm facing. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.