The Bible, as a literary work of a significant theological and cultural value, is filled with literary devices, such as personifications, metaphors, similes, symbols, and parallelisms, which intensify the depth of the spiritual messages and the literary features of the book. The Book of Psalms is one of the richest parts of the Scripture containing a great variety of literary devices specific to poetry. The passage retrieved from Psalms is one of the most striking for a reader since it introduces vivid imagery that explains the importance of God to the author. The passage is as follows: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:2, New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version). The choice of this passage is justified by the numerous imagery and literary devices used in it and the powerful message these elements help to deliver to the readers through the words of the Scripture.
Indeed, the load of symbolic and metaphorical elements in the cited piece allows the author to obtain a high level of imagery in the narration and underline the importance of God in his life. The context in which this passage appears in the Bible helps to explain the weight of the message. According to the Bible, these verses are part of the song devoted by David to God as a sign of his gratitude for saving him from the enemies. This context validates the value of David’s words addressed to God. As for the literary devices used in the piece, the first one that attracts the attention and has become one of the most memorable metaphors in the Bible is “the Lord is my Rock” (Psalm 18:2, New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version). Rock, as a solid and unbreakable material, is used as a source of comparison with the protection and reliability God provides for his followers.
It is further elaborated by the second comparison, which presents a fortress as the symbol of guardianship for believers. It is a striking element since God is compared to a non-living object; however, the features of the referred object, when transferred to God’s personality, help to unveil his character. Moreover, such a metaphor emphasizes that one can trust and fully rely on God’s advocacy and protection, which intensifies the religious message delivered by the passage. Another important metaphor is a shield, to which the author refers to intensify the exemplification of the protecting power of God. Behind it, as under the protection of the Lord, one can hide from enemies, sorrows, and hardships and feel safe. These elements allow for building a solid ground for faith encouragement in the believers by assuring them in the omnipotence of Lord, his care and love. Elaborating more on the theme of invulnerability under God’s guidance, the author appeals to the horn of salvation in God’s image, which implies the importance of spiritual redemption.
The choice of the words loaded with definite meanings and straight-forward connotations help the author to convey his emotional state. David feels overjoyed and faithful; his salvation by God’s will is perceived by him as a miracle of the Lord that deserves exaltation. That is why he uses strengthened synonyms to the words fortress and stronghold, uses the repetition of the word rock to intensify the solid faith in God. From a theological position, the imagery and metaphorical depiction of the passage contribute to the richness of the Scripture’s narration and intensify the religious weight of the delivered message. The chosen literary devices create visual images in readers’ minds, facilitate the perception of the narration, and increase the poetic value of the piece.
Since the Bible is a literary work with a long history, the linguistic and poetic elements used in the text might bear historical content. On the one hand, the comparison of God’s might to such common elements as rock, fortress, and stronghold is easy to perceive by the contemporary reader. The connotations delivered by means of these metaphors are not difficult to detect; thus, the message of the author will be easily understood by a reader in the twenty-first century.
On the other hand, the words shield, fortress, and stronghold are attributed to the historical period when the verses were composed and might have had a more significant meaning for the readers who lived at the same time as the author. Although the concepts conveyed by these words are understandable within the historical context, the implied significance is less relevant to the contemporary readers than in David’s contemporaries. However, the utilization of metaphor by appealing to the horn of salvation has a strong historical and theological connotation that may be found in the Old Testament writings. Indeed, the horn is attributed to the symbolic holiness of God’s power. Overall, the richness of symbolism and imagery in the biblical passage plays a vital role in delivering essential messages to the readers.