God, the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

“Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.” Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis and is not to be moved by swelling seas. Evil may ferment, wrath may boil, and pride may foam, but the brave heart of holy confidence trembles not. Great people who are like mountains may quake for fear in times of great calamity, but those whose trust is in God need never to be dismayed. “Selah.” Ours is not the headlong rashness that passes for courage; we can calmly confront the danger and meditate upon terror, dwelling on its separate items and united forces. The pause is not an exclamation of dismay but merely a rest in music; we do not suspend our song in alarm but tune our harps again with deliberation amid the tumult of the storm. It would be well if all of us could say Selah under tempestuous trials, but alas! Too often, we speak in our haste, lay our trembling hands bewildered among the strings, strike the lyre with a rude crash, and mar the melody of our life song.