VATICAN CITY, SEP 21, 2005 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about the second part of Psalm 131, "the choice of David and of Zion."
The Holy Father explained to the 26,000 people present that this canticle "evokes a crucial event in the history of Israel: the transfer of the Ark of the Lord to the city of Jerusalem."
In fact, King David "had made a vow not to dwell in the royal palace if he had not first found a resting place for the Ark of the Covenant, the sign of the presence of the Lord alongside His people. That oath of the king's is now answered by God's own promise: 'the Lord swore to David a sure oath from which He will not turn back'."
Benedict XVI stressed how "the promise and the gift of God ... must find a response in mankind's faithful and active adherence, in a dialogue that integrates two freedoms: the divine and the human."
The psalm then "becomes a hymn exalting the marvelous effects both of the gift of the Lord and of the faithfulness of Israel. In fact, the Lord's presence among the people will be felt: He will be like one more inhabitant among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like a citizen who, with other citizens, experiences the events of history, yet offering the power of His blessing."
The Pope went on to point out how in this second part of the psalm, as in the first part, there appears "the figure of the 'Anointed One,' in Hebrew 'Messiah,' thus linking descent from David to Messianism which, in the Christian re-reading, is fulfilled in the figure of Christ."
"Psalm 131 becomes, then, a celebration of God-Emmanuel Who remains with His creatures, living with them and benefiting them, so long as they remain united to Him in truth and justice. The spiritual core of this hymn is already a prelude to St. John's proclamation: 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us'."
AG/PSALM 131/... VIS 20050921 (350)
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