VATICAN - The Pope’s Weekly General Audience: “God and humanity walk together through history and the temple serves as a visibile sign of this communion”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - This morning Pope Benedict XVI held his general weekly audience in St Peter’s Square. The Holy Father flew into Rome by helicopter from his Summer Residence in Castel Gandolfo to address thousands of visitors from all over the world. Continuing his teaching on the psalms and canticles prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours, this morning the Pope commented Psalm 131, 1-10: “God’s promises to David” (vespers Thursday week 3 -: Ps 131,1-3.5.8-9).
Some scholars say this psalm “resounded during celebrations for the solmen transfer of the arc of the covenant, a sign of God’s presence amidst the people of Isral, to Jerusalem, the new capital chosen by David” the Pope said, while according to other exegetes it is “a celebration to commemorate that event.” What ever the case, the hymn “would appear to refer to a liturgical dimension: probably a procession, with the presence of the priests, the people and a choir..”
The first ten verses of the Psalm contain the promise made by David: “the king will not set foot in the royal palace in Jerusalem, he will not rest until he has found a home for the arc of the Lord. At the centre of social life there must be a presence to evoke the mystery of the transcendent God. God and humanity walk together through history and the temple serves as a visibile sign of this communion.”
After David has spoken a liturgical choir recalls past events: how the arc was found in the countryside at Iaar and carried to the future holy city amidst festive celebrations on the one hand the adoring people, that is the liturgical assembly, on the other, the Lord once again present and active in the sign of the arc placed in Sion. “The soul of the liturgy lies in this meeting point of the priest and the people on one hand and on the other the Lord with all his power.”
The first part of the Psalm closes with a prayer for the kings who will succeed David which has been interpreted in a messanic key: “the eye of the Psalmist goes beyond the viscissitudes of the Kingdom of Juda tending towards the great waiting for the perfect ‘anointed one’, the Messiah who always be pleasing to God and loved and blessed by Him.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 14/9/2005, righe 25, parole 374)