Dusk – A Natural Pause

All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.Selah! 

Psalms 66:4

My husband and I like rituals. One we practice at the beach is to stop what we’re doing to watch the sunset. We either settle in a balcony chair or stand by water’s edge to drink in the sight.

As spectacular as beach sunsets are, I enjoy more the moment following them—dusk. Dusk is defined as the state of partial darkness between day and night. Dusk is one of the natural pauses God knits into our days. Because our spirit cries out for rest, we can take advantage of these pauses.

Grow still. Watch the pink, purple, or orange streaks of sky transform to smoky grays. Feel the air grow cooler. Hear the quiet, and bid the sun farewell as we soak in the blessed, muted blues of dusk.

As you relax, your lungs open and allow you to more fully inhale the serenity. The beauty. You sense the presence of God. Your heart pours out gratitude for His creation, for another day, and now a night.

Selah.

Selah is used seventy-four times in the Hebrew Bible and seventy-one times in Psalms. The term may be a combination of two Hebrew words: s lah, “to praise” and s lal “to lift up.” Some scholars suggest the word is derived from salah, “to pause.”

Selah encourages us to stop and consider what we just read in the Bible, lifting our hearts in praise to God. Wherever the word appears in the Bible, the Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that.”

When we slow down our living, we witness wonders of nature that delight our hearts. Selah. Times to pause and praise the work God has done. Start with dusk this evening. It may not be at the beach, but stop what you’re doing and see the world as God does.

Because our spirits cry out for sabbath, we need the pauses God creates for us

When we slow down our living, we witness wonders of nature that delight our hearts. Times to pause and praise the work God has done. Selah. #sabbath #dusk Share on X

Giveaway in Progress – commenters on today’s post earn a chance to win one of these fabulous books.