As we take this cinematic journey through Psalms together, I encourage you to listen to the album and each song on your favorite music streaming service first, for pure enjoyment and also to see how God may speak to you through the music. If you want to go deeper Psalm 39 is down below. You can also read and reflect on the spiritual and musical inspirations behind each song while you listen or in silence as a quiet devotional. Wishing you God’s grace and peace, Stanton

The introduction with heavenly choir and long orchestra notes signifies something powerful is about to be revealed. This song has a lyrical melody as the notes are singing the words, “but for a moment, pause in His presence” (verses 4 and 5). These two phrases happen to have the same number of syllables. The entire piece is built on this motif, worth repeating again. But for a moment. Pause in His presence. After the introduction the music speaks these phrases twice, then answers with a melody expressing faith and assurance when we fully pause in God’s presence.

The big idea is that my “being” comes before my “doing.” When I pause and commune with God, He reveals next steps for me to obey. The next step can be clear or He can give me a peace to move forward. Either way, I do not know exactly what will happen, and God is responsible for the results. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in (abide in) me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV) This verse inspired one of my earliest songs Abiding, which became a listener favorite on my first album Walk in the Light (2001). 

Psalm 39 by King David is noted as a cry for help, for the Pure and Shining One, a song of praising. Verses 4, 7, 11, and 13 stood out for me as I read and reflected on this Psalm many times during the composing process. “Lord, help me to know how fleeting my time on earth is. Help me to know how limited is my life and that I’m only here but for a moment more. And now, God, I’m left with one conclusion: my only hope is to hope in you alone! How fleeting and frail our lives! Don’t let me die without restoring joy and gladness to my soul.”

The original Hebrew word “Selah” is used in most Bible translations, and appears after verses 5 and 11. Scholars have interpreted this as a direction for a musical interlude, an instruction for singers to pause while instruments play louder, or as a call for the reader/listener to pause and reflect deeply on the profound truths just expressed (e.g., the brevity of human life). The words “pause in his presence” are a paraphrase for Selah, encouraging a moment of quiet contemplation and introspection in the presence of God. This aligns with the content of Psalm 39, which deals with my human frailty and how my true hope is in God alone. 

The “being”—the abiding—symbolized in the first section of But for a Moment begins to grow into the “doing” that bears much fruit because of God’s power. I can do nothing apart from Him. There is a soaring secondary melody from 2:25 to 3:20 which emphasizes the “power of the pause” so to speak. It is as though heaven begins to open up for a moment. It is glimpse of what C.S. Lewis describes as “further up and further in” in his Chronicles of Narnia. The layers of the piano and symphony which build and build in the second half are the “much fruit” being lived out in the now. God’s Kingdom fruit is eternal and beautiful, which by faith we will one day be able to understand more fully. This piece comes to an inspiring, yet abrupt end because our life on earth is fleeting, and will come to an end very soon. We are here but for a moment. 

How does But for a Moment speak to you?

Psalm 39 (Passion) —BUT FOR A MOMENT

A Cry for Help

For the Pure and Shining One. A song of praising by King David

1-2 Here’s my life motto, the truth I live by: I will guard my ways for all my days. I will speak only what is right, guarding what I speak. Like a watchman guards against an attack of the enemy, I’ll guard and muzzle my mouth when the wicked are around me. I will remain silent and will not grumble or speak out of my disappointment. But the longer I’m silent, the more my pain grows worse! 3-4 My heart burned with a fire within me, and my thoughts eventually boiled over until they finally came rolling out of my mouth: “Lord, help me to know how fleeting my time on earth is. Help me to know how limited is my life and that I’m only here but for a moment more. 5 What a brief time you’ve given me to live! Compared to you my lifetime is nothing at all! Nothing more than a puff of air—I’m gone so swiftly. So too are the grandest of men; they are nothing but a fleeting shadow!”

Pause in his presence (Selah)

6 We live our lives like those living in shadows. All our activities and energies are spent for things that pass away. We gather, we hoard, we cling to our things, only to leave them all behind for who knows who. 7 And now, God, I’m left with one conclusion: my only hope is to hope in you alone! 8 Save me from being overpowered by my sin; don’t make me a disgrace before the degenerate.

9 Lord, I’m left speechless and I have no excuse, so I’ll not complain any longer. Now I know you’re the one who is behind it all. 10 But I can’t take it much longer. Spare me these blows from your discipline-rod. For if you are against me, I will waste away to nothing. 11 No one endures when you rebuke and discipline us for our sins. Like a cobweb is swept away with a wave of the hand, you sweep away all that we once called dear. How fleeting and frail our lives! We’re nothing more than a puff of air.

Pause in his presence (Selah)

12 Lord, listen to all my tender cries. Read my every tear, like liquid words that plead for your help. I feel all alone at times, like a stranger to you, passing through this life just like all those before me. 13 Don’t let me die without restoring joy and gladness to my soul. May your frown over my failure become a smile over my success.