| Vatican City (Fides Service) - In Psalm 110, a hymn of praise and thanksgiving we find many words that “describe God and his attributes and his work of salvation … prayer is therefore contemplation of the mystery of God and the marvels he works in the history of salvation”.
During the general audience this morning in St Peter’s Square Pope Benedict XVI commented on Psalm 110, “Great are the works of the Lord”, Second Vespers Sunday week 3 (Ps 110,1-2.4-5.10).
The psalm opens with thanksgiving “rising not only from the heart of the psalmist but from the entire liturgical assembly” for the work of redemption of the Lord who is always faithful to his covenant with his people. “The bond of love includes the fundamental gift of food and therefore of life, which the Christian interpretation identifies with the Eucharist” the Pope explained. There is also the gift of the land referring to the great exodus when the Lord showed himself to be the God of liberation. “The essence of the central part of this hymn is therefore to be found in the theme of the special covenant between the Lord and his people as verse 9 clearly affirms: «He has established his covenant for ever ».”
The psalm culminates in the “contemplation of the divine face, the person of the Lord, expressed through his holy and transcendent name”. “The Psalmist calls on every believer to cultivate ‘awe of the Lord’, the basis of true wisdom. The word does not mask fear or terror, but rather real and sincere respect, genuine and active obedience to God who liberates. And if the first word of the canticle was thanksgiving, the final word is one of praise: just as the Lord’s saving justice ‘lasts forever’, so the gratitude of the psalmist is incessant, it resounds in ‘unending” prayer. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2005, righe 21, parole 316)
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