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2584 In their ‘one to one’
encounters with God, the prophets 2709 draw light and
strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from
this unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to the Word
of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint,
but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares
for the intervention of the Saviour God, the Lord of
history.~6 The Psalms, the prayer of the assembly 2585 From the time of David to the coming of the
Messiah texts appearing in these sacred books show a
deepening in prayer for oneself and in prayer for others.37
Thus the Psalms were gradually 1093 collected into the
five books of the Psalter (or ‘Praises’), the
masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament.
2586 The Psalms both nourished and expressed the prayer
of the People of God gathered during the great feasts at
Jerusalem and each Sabbath in the synagogues. Their prayer
is inseparably personal and communal; it concerns both
those who are praying, and all men. The Psalms arose from
the communities of the Holy Land and the Diaspora, but
embrace all creation. Their prayer recalls the saving events
of the past, yet extends into the future, even to the end of
history; it commemorates the promises God has already
kept, and awaits the Messiah who will fulfil them
definitively. Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the
Psalms remain essential 1177 to the prayer of the
Church.~8 2587 The Psalter is the
book in which the Word of God becomes man’s prayer. In
other books of the Old Testament, ‘the words proclaim
[God’s] works and bring to light the mystery
they contain.’39 The words of the Psalmist, sung for
God, both express and acclaim the Lord’s saving works;
the same Spirit inspires both God’s work and man’s
response. Christ will unite the two. In him, the Psalms
continue to teach us how to pray. 2641
2588 The Psalter’s many forms of prayer take shape
both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the human heart.
Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or thanksgiving,
whether individual or communal, whether royal chants, songs
of pilgrimage or wisdommeditations, the Psalms are a mirror
of God’s marvellous deeds in the history of his people,
as well as reflections of the human experiences of the
Psalmist. Though a given psalm may reflect an event |
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