Writing 101

I keep reading about verbs. “Verbs are the most important of all your tools,” says William Zinsser in On Writing Well.[1] One of Zinsser’s students recalls the adage that “a story should be a verb, not a noun.” He says that a newspaper article shouldn’t just be about a place or an institution. Something should be happening there.[2]

So I went to the Bible to see if its writers observe the rule. Then I realized that it’s the other way around: The Bible is the primary source for good writing; and yes, the Bible’s story is a verb. From the very beginning God was active: He created the heavens and the earth. He spoke everything into existence.

Checking other Bible passages, I noted that Psalm 23 is filled with verbs: The good shepherd makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. His rod and staff comfort me. The shepherd prepares a table before me and anoints my head with oil. My cup overflows. Goodness and love follow me throughout my life. I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 100 also is active. It prompts us to shout, worship, come, enter, give thanks, and praise. Why? Because the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Thinking about this made me wonder why we humans are so attracted to verbs—active verbs in particular. Zinsser tells us, “Active verbs push hard; passive verbs tug fitfully. Active verbs also enable us to visualize an activity because they require a pronoun (‘he’), or a noun (‘the boy), or a person (‘Mrs. Scott’) to put them in motion.”[3]

Are we attracted to verbs merely because they energize us, or is something else going on? I think it’s the Imago Dei, God’s image in us; for God is the ultimate verb, the great I Am. So when God created us, he endowed us with language—the ability to verbalize. And God created us to be verbs, to act in his behalf—to cultivate the garden and to manage the animals.

Alas, we misused our endowment by doing that which God told us not to do. In plain language, we sinned against God. So the Bible tells us that God expelled us from the garden. Yet the Imago Dei prompted a desire, a longing, to return to the garden.

Again, God acted: He took the initiative to retrieve us. First he spoke to Abram, to Isaac and to Jacob to establish a nation through which we could return to God. And God continued speaking. In due time, he sent his Word into the world. “God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” “. . . the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” How about those active verbs?

But what about nouns? Please tell me that nouns are useful! Yes, they have their place observes Zinsser: “After verbs, plain nouns are your strongest tools; they resonate with emotion.”[4] So Jesus put nouns in their place when he promised: “I am going . . . to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Active verbs first; plain nouns second: That’s Writing 101. The Creator said so.

[1] William Zinsser, On Writing Well (NY: HarperCollins, 2006), 68.
[2] John Tierney, Speaking of Journalism (NY: HarperCollins, 1994), edited by William Zinsser, 1.
[3] Zinsser, 68.
[4] Zinsser, 238.

Restore Us, O God!

Some Christian hymns have memorable refrains. I’m sure you know the titles associated with these choruses:
“Then sings my soul . . . .”
“O come, let us adore him . . . .”
“Amazing love! How can it be . . . ?”
“Lift high the cross . . . .”

Refrains in Hebrew poetry also stay with us. Consider these examples:
“The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46: 7, 11).
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth” (Psalm 57:5, 11).
“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind” (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31).
“His love endures forever” (Psalm 118:1-4, 29; Psalm 136:1-26).

I have known those passages for years. Recently I noticed a beautiful refrain I hadn't seen before.

Psalm 80 seemed unfamiliar until I came to the phrase, “make your face shine on us,” from Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6. That expression is part of a recurring prayer in Psalm 80: “Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” I noticed that, with each repetition, the author added a word to the first phrase. So, “Restore us, O God,” in verse 3, became “Restore us, O God Almighty” in verse 7, and “Restore us, O LORD God Almighty” in verse 19.

That threefold refrain fed my soul. Even the first phrase quieted my mind and helped me to concentrate on God. It challenged me to consider the full message of the psalm.

Yet I wondered if this prayer is appropriate for followers of Jesus Christ. If we have been rescued by Jesus, should we ask God to save us again—or to keep saving us? But this refrain called out to me. It comforted me. I wrote in my journal, “What a wonderful request—a calming refrain, a reassuring truth.”

I concluded that this refrain is a marvelous Christian prayer. We have been rescued by God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13-14); yet we are still in exile in this world. We long to be restored to a Garden of Eden. So we have been saved from the dominion of darkness, we are being saved for eternal life, and we will be saved when we enter God’s presence through death or at the Parousia.

Then I wondered why the refrain occurs so randomly in Psalm 80. We are used to choruses coming at predictable times. I discovered that this refrain marks the psalm's structure. The poet calls out for help in verses 1-2, expresses grief in verses 4-6, and recalls Israel’s story in verses 8-18.

First the poet appeals earnestly to the Shepherd of Israel, the one who led and protected Rachel’s children.[1] God is alive in his temple in Jerusalem. He sits enthroned between the cherubim. So the singer cries out: “Shine forth. Awaken your might. Come and save us.”

Then he laments God’s treatment of his own people. How long will your anger smolder against their prayers? Sorrow is their daily bread. They drink tears of grief. You humbled them before their neighbors; their enemies mock them to their hearts’ content.[2]

Finally the poet recalls Israel’s history starting at the Exodus. The LORD transplanted his vine after clearing the ground. It took root and filled the land. The vineyard overshadowed even the mighty cedars. It extended to the Mediterranean Sea and as far as the Euphrates River.[3] So the poet asks a troubling question: “Why have you broken down the vineyard’s walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?” The prophet Isaiah gives God’s answer: What more could I have done? When I looked for good grapes, it yielded only bad?[4]

The writer knows that the vine has been destroyed; people have perished. Yet he expresses hope. His prayer sounds like the refrain: “Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine.”[5] He pleads for the LORD’s hand to rest on one at his right side, the son of man he raised up for himself..[6] The poet longs for the people to be faithful to the LORD. “Revive us, and we will call on your name.”

As I ponder Psalm 80, I realize afresh that it is a significant Christian prayer. The refrain aptly reminds me of it all. When I pray, “Restore us, O God,” I give thanks for Jesus, the man at the LORD’s right hand. He is the son of man the LORD raised up for himself. I give thanks that He is the true vine. When I pray, “Restore us, O God,” I ask the Shepherd of Israel to restore his whole flock to faithful fellowship with the LORD God Almighty.

[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73 – 150: Commentary on Books III – IV of the Psalms (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), 289. See Genesis 46:19f.
[2] Adapted from the New International Version and The New English Bible
[3] As noted in the NIV
[4] See Isaiah 5:4 and Kidner, 291.
[5] Verse 14 adapted from the NIV
[6] Verse 17