Vatican City, Sep 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Speaking to some 26,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for today's general audience, Pope Benedict demonstrated how God's closeness to the people of Israel through the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant paved the way to the Messiah who was to come and "dwell among us."
The Pope focused his reflections on the second part of Psalm 131, "the choice of David and of Zion," a canticle which, he said, "evokes a crucial event in the history of Israel: the transfer of the Ark of the Lord to the city of Jerusalem."
Pope Benedict noted that 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", the Pope said, "is now answered by God's own promise: 'the Lord swore to David a sure oath from which He will not turn back'."