* The Bible is Poetry

How many Christians realize that one third of the Bible is poetry!

Why did God use poetry to convey so much of His word? Couldn’t He have simply used plain and direct language of writing instead?

There are probably many reasons why God chose poetry as a means to convey His instructions to humanity. Poetry is the language of the heart, and of love. It engages the mind and heart of the reader in a way that prose cannot.

Poetry requires the reader to ponder and meditate on the meaning of what it is the author is trying to convey and thereby the reader enters into a linguistic and artistic relationship with the author.

This being the case, poetry is a means for God to engage and connect intellectually, emotionally and spiritually with His chosen people, his children, and with his bride Israel.

Poetry uses various figures of speech to enhance its liveliness, creativity, and depth of meaning. These figures of speech lend variety and creative power to biblical poetry.

Some examples:

Psalm 21:3 says; ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither.’
--This Psalm uses a simile to describe a righteous man.

Isaiah 55:12 says; ‘All the trees of the field will clap their hands’, and “the mountains sing’
-- Joy is expressed through metaphor.

Psalm 17:8 says; ‘Hide me in the shadow of your wings’
-- God’s protective care is shown through zoomorphism--the attributing of animal-like features to God.

Judges 5:20 & Psalm 114:6 says; “The stars fight and the mountains skip”
--Nature is personified, but not deified.

The following Psalm is a rich example of poetry. Meditate on this portion of Scripture and let it soak in deep. Note the vivid word pictures. God could have bottom lined it with raw facts;
1. God is great
2. God made the earth and sea
3. God made the animals

Our devotion to God is not a business meeting! Allow God to connect intellectually, emotionally and spiritually to you today. Praise Him for the beauty and flow of this Psalm, for its artistic quality and richness.

Psalm 104 1-14
O my soul, bless God! God, my God, how great you are!
beautifully, gloriously robed,
Dressed up in sunshine,
and all heaven stretched out for your tent.

You built your palace on the ocean deeps,
made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.
You commandeered winds as messengers,
appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.

You set earth on a firm foundation
so that nothing can shake it, ever.
You blanketed earth with ocean,
covered the mountains with deep waters;
Then you roared and the water ran away—
your thunder crash put it to flight.

Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out
in the places you assigned them.
You set boundaries between earth and sea;
never again will earth be flooded.

You started the springs and rivers,
sent them flowing among the hills.
All the wild animals now drink their fill,
wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Along the riverbanks the birds build nests,
ravens make their voices heard.

You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns;
earth is supplied with plenty of water.
You make grass grow for the livestock,
hay for the animals that plow the ground.