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Poetic Analysis of Psalm 102
Part One
Verse 3: Hyperbole – “For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing
embers.” The Psalmist exaggerates his message to describe his inability to change his reality. As
his days are fewer as he lives on, his pain continues to grow.
Verse 5: Indirect Analogy—"In my distress, I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and
bones." Here, the Psalmist is giving an analogy in which the “bones” are sticking to his skin
because of his fasting (verse 4). The groaning comes from his anxiety and suffering, which
makes him feel as if he is wasting away.
Verse 6: Simile - “I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.” The writer
compares his situation to that of a lonely owl in a lonely place. The reference to being among the
ruins gives a sense of despair and anguish.
Verse 8: Hyperbole—" All the day my enemies taunt me." The Psalmist exaggerates that
his enemies taunt him continually to state that he is tired of being mucked. Those who rail
against me use my name as a curse." Obviously, the Psalmist's name is not a curse, but he wants
the reader to see how uncomfortable he feels because of people's attacks against him.
Verse 9: Metaphor—" For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears."
Nobody eats ashes as food or mingles their drink with tears; however, this metaphor invites the
reader to sympathize with the writer in his suffering, which is caused by perhaps emptiness and
loneliness.
Verse 13: Personification – "It is the time to favor her." Zion is pictured as a woman
who should be comforted. The Psalmist personified Zion as a woman in need of mercy.
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Verse 14: Representation - "For your servants hold her stones dear." Here, the Psalmist
refers to stones representing the whole city. The people hold near to them the city, the buildings
of Zion, and the "stones" here are a representation of the entire city.
Verse 15: Metonymy of Association – "The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all
the kings of the earth will revere your glory." The Psalmist gives the "name" [of the Lord], which
is associated with God's attributes. Those attributes must bring fear to the kings of the earth.
Verse 23: Proverb—"In the course of my life he broke my strength." The Psalmist was
perhaps stating that his life had to be humbled by the breaking of strength. He cut short my
days." This implies that because of whatever action was being taken or because of the suffering
he had endured, the Lord had to stop it.
Part Two
Psalm 102 imagines a person dealing with severe distress, agony, and misery. His days
felt like they were passing away like smoke, and he could not do anything about it. His life
appears to be passing by, and soon it will be all over. His well-being, his strength, and his desire
to live and move on seem to vanish in the haze of his dark situation. as he identifies his food as
ashes, which could represent the result of destruction and tears, signifying pain and extreme
distress.
Eventually, it seems that the psalmist writer goes back to the fact that God has always
been merciful to His people, as in verses 12 and 13 one reads, "But You, O Lord, shall endure
forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on
Zion; For the time to favor her, yes, the set time has come.” (Psalm 102, NKJV). This Psalm is as
contemporary today as it was when it was shared in the old days. Suffering, tribulation, sadness,
and anxiety are as intense today as it was then. The believer has to push through every day when
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an attack from another person or just a matter of life happens. However, it is important to always
remember that God is merciful, and He is the same for all eternity, and just as He has shown up
in the most difficult time in the life of the Psalmist, He will show up in the life of the believer.
Poetic Analysis of Psalm 51
Part One
v. 2: "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity." The Psalmist uses a metaphor to equate
his cleansing to forgiveness. According to this passage, the only way to remove all iniquity is to
let God's mercy wash away all wrongdoings.
v. 4: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” A hyperbole is used here by stating that
David only sinned against God. David did not only sinned against God but also against Uriah
and many more people.
v. 7: "Purge me with hyssop." The Psalmist uses the figure of speech metonymy of cause.
David understands that he must be purged (cleansed) with the small plant (Hyssop) used in every
purification event. This purging is the cause that will ensure David's purification.
v. 8: "Let the bones you have broken rejoice." The figure of speech here is that of a
personification. Bones can not rejoice. David is saying that because of his sins and iniquities, his
life feels as if it is completely paralyzed (broken bones). David is asking God to heal his bones
(forgiveness) so that he may feel restored once again.
v. 9: “Hide your face from my sins.” The Psalmist uses an anthropomorphism that gives
God a face, an imagery the reader can understand. Here, David is asking God not to see his sins
(hide), as if to say, "Do not punish me for my sins; forgive me for each of them."
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v. 15: "O Lord, open my lips." Here, the Psalmist uses an example of synecdoche. David
asks God to open his lips so that he can worship Him. However, it must be David's whole being
who glorifies and praises God.
v.17: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." Here, the figure of speech is a
metonymy of association: God accepts a broken spirit.
Poetic Analysis of Psalm 51
Sin and every unclean action are always against God and only God. Therefore, God is the
only One who can purify and forgive every sin. In Psalm 51, David's main action is going after
God's purification and forgiveness of his wrongdoings. When David was confronted and
convicted of his wrongdoing, having a sexual relationship with a married woman, sending the
woman's husband to die in battle, tried to hide his sinful action, he became remorseful and
realized that his life was broken and his spirit was devastated. David, the one who once went
after God's heart, had discovered a wide gap between him and God and the only way to restore
that relationship was to come out clean and beg for forgiveness. David's suffering had become so
great that joy and gladness had disappeared. The brokenness was so deep that it felt like every
bone was broken, and David could no longer go forward. In his convicted heart, David had
understood that God does not delight in a simple burnt offering but rather in a broken spirit.
David had to come before God with a humbled and contrite heart, for David knew that God
would not turn away the one who came before God in that state of mind and spirit.
This Psalm helps the reader see God’s mercy and forgiveness for those who come to Him
in an honest, contrite, and humble manner. Indeed, every human being can not walk away from
sins all the time, and every human being will continue to fall short of God's glory and deserves
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punishment for every sin. However, it is also true that God is a loving God, and when the sinner
comes to the Father with a broken spirit, the Father will restore, cleanse, and provide mercy.
Poetic Analysis of Psalm 49
The writer of Psalm 49 uses multiple features to convey his message. In this section of
this assignment, this writer will discuss five specific features of Psalm 49 according to what is
read in "Poetic Artistry in the Expression of Fear in Psalm 49," Bibliotheca Sacra 161 2004): 55-
71 written by Daniel J. Estes.
The first feature will be to note Estes’ “extensive use of repetition”1 Estes uses lexical
repetition to drive the significance of his message. As the Psalmist writes in vv. 2, 5, 14, the
repetition of the verbal root was intended to communicate “proverbial wisdom, that is, from
divine order built into the creation.”2
The second feature the Psalmist uses to convey what the Psalmist is trying to share in
psalm 49 is by way of his use of semantic fields. Here, the Psalmist used six semantic fields
demonstrating the interconnection within the Psalm. “Wealth or commercial transactions”3 It
makes the connection from point to point that Psalm 49 conveys.
The third feature one can identify is his usage of his specific illustration of a proverb. He
uses the term wisdom to contrast it "to terms relating to folly."4 Estes claims that wisdom and
folly are intertwined in this regard, as they both have to deal with eventually dying. Also, it is
essential to note that wise people will understand that one day, poor and rich will be gone
1 Daniel J. Estes, “Poetic Artistry in the Expression of Fear in Psalm 49.” Bibliotheca Sacra, no. 161
(2004): 55-71.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
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forever, while foolish people waste their hope and time, trusting their wealth will somehow keep
them alive forever.
The fourth feature will be related to how important humanity must be seen as one,
regardless of who is poor and who is wealthy. Ultimately, humanity will be better served if the
attention is placed in the right place, the place of wisdom and not materialistic matters. In verse
20: Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. (NKJV), the
Psalmist uses an indirect analogy in which he implies that humanity given to fool thoughts and
beliefs will one day die just like every animal does.
The fifth feature that can be observed is the usage of a simile, as the Psalmist compares
richness and glory (verses 16 and 17). Both glory and richness become nothing when death
strikes.
