If you are a frequent reader of Scripture, you may have noticed some curious statements throughout the Bible, particularly in the Psalms and the prophets. For instance, in Isaiah 55:12 the last part of the verse says:

"The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

This is one example of numerous instances in Scripture where a "poetic device" is used. In this particular example the technique is "personification," where inanimate objects are shown as if having human qualities. There are many, many poetic devices used in Scripture, although some are not as evident in translations as in the original language.

Poetry in Scripture is writing inspired by God to share abundantly with you, the reader, emotions and thoughts that are best conveyed with written images and sounds.

For example, "You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 28:62).

We know that the people in ancient Israel were not the same in number as the stars in the heavens. They were far more than the number of stars that can be seen with the naked eye, but far fewer than the actual number. There are so many billions of stars that if there were as many people as stars, they would have to be stacked on top of each other to fit on the earth!

Yet, God's Word is true. How can this be? Because this form of exaggeration made a point to the ancient Israelites and to us today of the great contrast between God's blessing them and cursing them. The purpose of language is communication, and God's communication to His people is that they would decrease if they sinned! The example of the stars was to make that point, not to make a count of the heavenly bodies. This was a serious warning!

Besides emotions and ideas, the Bible has writing about beauty. Psalm 119 is an example of excellent structure and lovely composition. It is an acrostic psalm with 22 stanzas, one for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza has eight lines, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The subject of the psalm is the excellence and beauty of God's law, and the psalm itself is excellent and beautiful. Perhaps we can join the author to say:

"Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law" (Psalm 119:18).

Do yourself a favor and spend some time savoring the beauty inspired by God and written by His poets, the prophets.