Joshua SciarrinoLast name; “Sure-Reno”

Psalm 17:8, Rosicrucian Order, and Library of CongressFiled Under: Other Religions

Thanks for coming back!

I’ve been very amused to the root history of America. Most Christians try to say we were founded by Christ and other Christians, I tend to hold the belief of a mix of beliefs/religions. Mix of protestant Christians, Jewish, Deists, Freemasons, and Atheists. Now, I can be completely wrong on this thesis but it seems to be the most balanced understanding of our Nation’s history. Christians try to lean toward the ‘christian’ foundations, Masons toward ‘freemasonry’ foundation, etc, every group seems to be tremendously biased in their findings, hinting at a collaboration of faiths/beliefs. 

So, in this pursuit of to learning more about America/Masons/etc, I watched this amazing 21 part series and between 4:20-5:10 of this video it talks about the ‘Rosicrucian Order’ that is hinted at in the Library of Congress. Click Here, if the video doesn’t load

Picture of two vultures in the Library of Congress

This (below) is the picture/painting is on the ceiling of one of the walls in the Library of Congress. Those letters surrounding are in latin reciting scripture from the Psalms. Namely Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings“. 

In the picture it has two vultures in the image, which is a total misunderstanding of the Scripture. At face value, we might say ‘Yea, it looks like an accurate depiction of Psalm 17:8‘ but if we lived during the time when this Psalm was written, we’d understand this scripture totally differently. Psalm 17 was written by King David. Specifically some believe it was when King Saul was chasing David, in hope of killing him (David). In Scripture, 1 Sam. 23:25-26, “David was hurrying to get away from Saul“.

So, David was running away, for his life, from King Saul and he cried out to God ”Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings“. What does ‘apple of the eye’ and ’shadow of Your wings’ mean? Of course, it’s a plea of some kind. A prayer for rescue and protection.

The Apple of the Eye

The ‘apple of the eye’ is the pupil in the eye. It’s known as an idiom for the soft-spot of the eye or the soft-spot of one’s being. Then Googling it, shows that the phrase ‘apple of the eye’ wasn’t first used till 885 A.D. by King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex. So, this got me thinking, “What does the original Hebrew actually say; since ‘apple of the eye’ is the predominate phrase used in most of the translations of this passage?”

Now, looking at the actual hebrew, it causes more questions to arise. The deepest part=”me as the apple; 0380-strong’s dictionary #” and ”of the eye; 01323-strong’s dictionary #”=young daughter/women. Putting these two phrases together we get, “The deepest part of a young daughter/women”. Or could be “The deepest part of a village”. If it’s the deepest part of a women, that could connote one of two things (at least to my imagination): one, her heart, or two, her genitalia. If it’s the deepest part of a village, that could connote the capital or place that the village is surrounded by.

All three ideas have one common point that it conveys, that is, being centered around/purpose. Just like the Earth is centered around the Sun. If your married, your life is centered around your wife’s desires/heart. Our mandate after creation was to be ‘fruitful and multiply’. And the third idea is how all places work, the capital is the center of life for the area.

Shadow of Your Wings

Obviously by the painting, one might it’s simple to understand the meaning to ’shadow of Your wings’. Which would be assuming way too much.

The idea of shadow of Your wings comes from the original plans of God’s dwelling place with Moses. In Exodus Chapter 25, it lays out God’s idea for the Arc of the Testimony/Covenant. It states in Ex. 25:20 “The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.” Cherubim are simply angels and their wings are pointing to each other.

It looks like this:

Arc of the Covenant

Now do you see why David said “Hide me in the shadow of Your wings”? The Arc of the Covenant is a symbol of God’s presence with the children of Israel. In Ex. 28:22 “There I [God] will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.” So, what David is saying “Hide me in the midst of Your presence”. 

Psalm 17:8 would read “[God] keep me in the center of Your heart’s desire; Hide me in the midst of Your presence.” This might sound like I’m stretching it but symbolism can’t easily be broken down into a systematic answer, unless one knows each and every aspect that the symbol could express. And I’m nothing close to a theologian nor do I know the vast depths of each symbol.

In Conclusion, I hope this debunks the simple myths people make up surrounding this Scripture but I hope this also causes you to dig deeper into the symbolism found in Scripture.