A term appearing 71 times in the Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk, traditionally understood as a liturgical or musical instruction directing the reader or singer to pause and reflect. The exact meaning of Hebrew selah is uncertain — proposals include pause, lift up (of voice or instrument), forever, or a musical interlude marker. The LXX renders it diapsalma (between psalm-parts), supporting the pause-interpretation. Whatever the precise musical function, the spiritual effect for the reader is clear: selah marks the point at which the psalmist invites the soul to stop and weigh what has been said before moving on. Psalm 3:2 (many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.) gives the pattern: the trouble is named, and then the reader is invited to sit with it before the psalmist speaks the answer. The Christian reader of the Psalms learns to honor selah — to read slower, to feel what the psalmist felt, to be shaped by the pause as well as by the words.