In response, First Minister John Swinney told the chamber that Scotland had the capacity to absorb and overcome every passing storm.
He called for co-operation and renewal and added that new politics was the basis for a new hope.
Swinney then spoke in Gaelic and said: “Our people need us to work together, to improve their lives to bring them hope. That is what we must now do,” he said.
The parliament’s piper, MSP Stuart McMillan, brought the event to a close with a performance in the members’ garden of Bonnie Dundee and a Hundred Pipers.
Following the ceremony, the King and Queen met local heroes nominated by MSPs for their “extraordinary contribution” to local communities.
They included four-year-old Gregor Corse from Orkney, who was born with a brain condition which affects his balance and motor skills.
He was nominated after raising £70,000 for charity by doing laps around his house, supported by a walking frame.