The simile of sin
The narrator examines his life and realizes that he needs nothing in this world but God in his life. The narrator's sins are burdensome, and he wants God to clean his sins and make him holy again. The author writes, “My sins are heaped up over my head and entangle me like a heavy burden they weigh me down.”
The simile of the pit
Canterbury says that if God does not intervene in his life, he will be swallowed by his misdeeds. Canterbury writes, “Extricate me; lift my burdens, lest like a pit they swallow me up.” Consequently, human beings are guilty when they know that they are doing things that do not please God, and that is why they should ask for forgiveness and do the right things that are in line with God's vision for humanity.
The metaphor of the fool
The narrator metaphorically uses the 'fool' to represent paganism which is ideological thinking that God does not exist. The author wonders why fools fail to understand that their existence is behind a supernatural being. The author writes, “The fool has said in his heart that there is no God. But when this same fool hears me something than which nothing greater can be thought, he surely understands what he hears; and what he understands exists in his understanding, even if he does not understand that it exists in reality.”
The painter
The painter is a metaphor that represents a Christian life. A Christian attains true happiness when he believes that God exists. A painter is hopeful and trusts that whatever he paints exists even before seeing the picture itself. Consequently, Christians believe that God exists even if they have not physically seen him. The author writes, “When a painter, for example, thinks out in advance what he is going to paint, he has it in his understanding, but he does not yet understand it exists, since he has not yet painted it. But once he has painted it, he both has it in his understanding and understands that it exists because he has now painted it.”
God’s image
The duplication of God's image in human beings compares God's physical appearance to man. According to the author, man is created in God's image, showing that God loves his people more than anything else. The author writes, “I acknowledge, Lord and I thank you, that you have created in me this image of you so that I may remember you, think of you, and love you.”
