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Over 17,000 pilgrims, including large groups from 17 different countries, attended Pope John Paul II's general audience on April 24 in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father continued his catechesis on the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours by commenting on Psalm 81, which is an invitation to a joyful liturgical festival, a celebration of Israel's deliverance from slavery, and a summons to renewed commitment to the covenant.

“The words of the psalm are simple and revolve around two ideas. On one hand, we see God's gift of freedom,” the Holy Father noted. “On the other hand, the psalmist introduces another significant element in addition to this gift from God.” He went on to say that the religion of the Bible “is a dialog, a word that is followed by a response, a gesture of love that calls for our assent.” In the psalm the Lord invites Israel to faithfully observe the first commandment, which is the foundation for the Ten Commandments. “Only by faithfully hearing and obeying can people fully receive the Lord's gifts,” the Holy Father said.

“The Lord clearly wants his people to convert and to respond with a sincere and concrete love to his love that is even more lavish,” Pope John Paul II pointed out. “The last word in the dialog between God and his sinful people is never one of judgment and punishment but love and forgiveness. God does not wish to judge and condemn, but to save and deliver humanity from evil.”

“Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast” (Psalm 81:4). These words from Psalm 81, which we have just heard, refer to a liturgical celebration in the lunar calendar of ancient Israel. It is difficult to say exactly which festival this psalm refers to. What is certain is that the liturgical calendar of the Bible, even though it is rooted in the cycle of seasons and, therefore, in nature, is firmly anchored in salvation history, especially in that central event of the exodus from slavery in Egypt, which is linked to the full moon of the first month (see Exodus 12:2,6; Leviticus 23:5). It was there God revealed himself as liberator and savior.

As verse 7 of this psalm says in a very poetic way, God himself relieved the Hebrew slaves in Egypt from the burden of carrying the baskets full of bricks needed for the construction of the cities of Pithom and Raamses (see Exodus 1:11,14). God stood at the side of his oppressed people and freed them with his power from the bitter sign of their slavery — the basket of sun-baked bricks, which was a sign of the labor that the children of Israel were forced to do.

God's Gift of Freedom

Let us now look at the development of this canticle from Israel's liturgy. It begins with an invitation to festivity, song and music. It is an official convocation of the liturgical assembly according to an ancient precept for worship, which was already established in Egypt with the celebration of Passover (see Psalm 81:2-6a). After this appeal, the Lord himself speaks through the prophecy of a priest in the Temple of Zion, and these words from God make up the remainder of the psalm (see verses 6b-17).

These words are simple and revolve around two ideas. On one hand, we see God's gift of freedom, which was offered to an oppressed and unhappy Israel: “In distress you called and I rescued you” (verse 8). Reference is also made to how the Lord sustained Israel as it journeyed through the desert during a time of difficulty and trial with the gift of water at Meribah.

On the other hand, however, the psalmist introduces another significant element in addition to this gift from God. The religion of the Bible is not a monologue that God carries on in solitude or an act that remains inert. Rather, it is a dialogue, a word that is followed by a response, a gesture of love that calls for our assent. This is why so much space is devoted to the invitations that God directs at Israel.

Above all, the Lord invites Israel to faithfully observe the first commandment, the foundation of the Ten Commandments — faith in the one Lord and Savior and the rejection of idols (see Exodus 20:3-5). The words that the priest speaks in God's name are marked by the verb “listen” that is so dear to the Book of Deuteronomy. It expresses an obedient assent to the Law of Sinai and it is a sign of Israel's response to his gift of freedom. Indeed, it is repeated throughout the psalm: “Listen, my people … If only you will obey me, Israel … But my people did not listen to my words; Israel did not obey me … But even now if my people would listen” (Psalm 81:9,12,14).

Man's Unfaithfulness

Only by faithfully hearing and obeying can people fully receive the Lord's gifts. Unfortunately, disappointed, God has to note Israel's numerous infidelities. The journey through the desert to which the psalm refers is studded with these acts of rebellion and idolatry that culminate in making the statue of the golden calf (see Exodus 32:1-14).

The last part of the psalm (see Psalm 81:14-17) has a melancholic tone. In fact, God expresses a desire that up until now has not been satisfied: “But even now if my people would listen, if Israel would walk in my paths” (verse 14).

This melancholy, however, is inspired by love and is connected with a burning desire to pour out happiness upon the Chosen People. If Israel would walk in the ways of the Lord, he would be able to give them immediate victory over their enemies (see verse 15), feed them “with the finest wheat” and satisfy them “with honey from the rock” (verse 17). It would be a joyful banquet of the freshest bread, accompanied by honey that seemingly runs from the rocks of the Promised Land and represents the prosperity and total well-being that the Bible repeatedly speaks about (see Deuteronomy 6:3; 11:9; 26:9,15; 27:3; 31:20). By offering this wonderful perspective, the Lord clearly wants his people to convert and to respond with a sincere and concrete love to his love that is even more lavish.

God's Lavish Love

In the Christian interpretation of the psalm, God's offer reveals its abundance. Indeed, Origen offers us this interpretation: the Lord “made them enter the Promised Land; he fed them not with manna as in the desert, but with the wheat that fell to the earth (see John 12:24-25), that has come back to life…Christ is the wheat; he is also the rock that satisfied the people of Israel with water in the desert. In the spiritual sense, he satisfied them with honey, and not with water, so that all who believe and receive this food will taste honey in their mouth” (Omelia sul Salmo 80, n. 17: Origene-Gerolamo, 74 Omelie sul Libro dei Salmi, Milan, 1993, pp. 204-205).

As is always the case in the history of salvation, the last word in the dialog between God and his sinful people is never one of judgment and punishment but love and forgiveness. God does not wish to judge and condemn, but to save and deliver humanity from evil. He continues to repeat the words that we read in the Book of the prophet Ezekiel: “Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? … Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live? … Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Return and live!” (Ezekiel 18:23,31-32).

The liturgy becomes that special place in which we hear God's call to conversion and we return to the embrace of a “merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity” (Exodus 34:6).

(Register translation)