Psalms 2, Royal Priests are We

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the Excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”           1 Peter 2:9

These are the words of the Rock the Catholic Church was built on. This is a seldom thought of dictate for followers of Christ, sort of like an 11^th Commandment for believers. As we enter into our six-week Psalms II study and Lent, we fittingly begin with two lessons on the Royal Psalms. These Psalms originally were written as part of celebrations of the king (David?), but if the Psalms are eternal prayers that speak to us as well, they call to us with great present-day relevance three thousand years later.

Craghan begins this lesson describing the influence of power and how humans are so susceptible to abusing it. King David and his contemporaries were no less human, and so the Psalmist writes about the virtues of ideal kingship.

The author of Psalm 132 links us to David’s entry into ancient Jerusalem after long and difficult battles with Israel’s enemies (2 Samuel 7).  David was grateful for victory and safety. But he also was anxious for the fact that the Ark of the Covenant, that holy resting place Moses and the Exodus Jews built for God, had no permanent home.

the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent!” 2 Sam 7:2

David made a point, despite his weariness, and no doubt the many other obligations he had as king of Israel, to place God’s welfare first. As Christians, we often forget the first commandment: “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND”

Everything we are and do comes from placing God first in our lives. So we should take heed when we read the Psalmist’s words for David:

“I will give my eyes no sleep, my eyelids no rest, Till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” Psa 132:4

Making certain that there is a dwelling for the Lord in our hearts and lives is the basis for a righteous existence, to fulfill the duties of “a royal priesthood.”

Psalm 110 (found on page 84 of Craghan and part of this past week’s lesson), once was the subject of a catechesis by the former Pope Benedict. A remarkable theologian, Benedict reminds us how Jesus used Psalm 110 to challenge the Pharisees after they had questioned him repeatedly, trying to entrap him so they could condemn him.

The Question about David’s Son. (Matt: 22:41-46)

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them,saying, “What is your opinion about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “David’s.”He said to them, “How, then, does David, inspired by the Spirit, call him ‘lord,’ saying:

‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet”’?

If David calls him ‘lord,’ how can he be his son?”No one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Benedict teaches: “The paschal event of Christ thus becomes the reality to which the Psalm invites us to look, to look at Christ to understand the meaning of true kingship, to live in service and in the gift of self, in a journey of obedience and love “to the end” (cf. Jn 13:1 and 19:30).

In praying with this Psalm let us therefore ask the Lord to enable us to proceed on his paths, in the following of Christ, the Messiah King, ready to climb with him the mount of the cross to attain glory with him, and to contemplate him seated at the right hand of the Father, a victorious king and a merciful priest who gives forgiveness and salvation to all men and women.”

Lent is a perfect time to reflect on the Royal Psalms and what they require from us as Royal Priests. For example, Psalm 101 describes the perfect King, the royal priest, saying he/she is a person who follows “the way of integrity” and shuns things like slander, shame, deviousness.

Every Sunday we are reminded during the Eucharistic Prayer that our royal priesthood has been passed down to us by Christ through his “cross and resurrection.” We are, as the celebrant reads at mass, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart.”

As we attend mass this Lenten season, pay closer attention to the Eucharistic Prayer and think about your calling as a royal priest of Christ.