Reading the Story of the Bible Three Ways

What follows is an excerpt from my sermon this past Sunday, “Faith to Face the Giant,” on the showdown between David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. I closed the sermon with some reflections on how we read the Bible, especially how we read stories, or narratives, in the Bible. I had a few people ask me about this part of the sermon, so I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of it here.

This story of David and Goliath is a wonderful and memorable story. But I want to encourage us when we read the Old Testament narratives to read them at three levels at the same time. 

The Three Levels of the Story of the Bible:

• The Story of God (Metanarrative)
• The Story of God’s People (Covenant Narrative)
• The Story of Individuals (Individual Narrative)

The Story of God

• The first level is the story of God working out His purposes for creation
• In light of this, the story of David and Goliath is a part of the story leading from creation through fall to redemption to restoration; it is a part of the story that leads us to the Messiah and the overlapping of heaven and earth we call salvation and God’s kingdom
• At the metanarrative level, this story tells us: God has a purpose that He is working out in our world, and no enemy can stand in the way of it.
• Even more, it tells us: Humanity needs a champion, like David, that will defeat all the powers that stand against God. And God has provided a champion like that in the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. 

The Story of God’s People

• The second level is the story of a people called to image forth God’s ways in the world beginning with the land of promise. God has set apart this people, blessing them in order that they might be a blessing to all the nations.
• In light of this, the story of David and Goliath is a story of victory and walking into God’s promised land.
• At this covenant narrative level, this story tells us that God will bring victory for God’s people over the opponents that come at them so that God can establish them on earth, and that God’s people might fulfill God’s calling to bring God’s ways and God’s blessing into the world.
• God will work out this covenant narrative purposes so that He can bring about His metanarrative purposes in the world.

The Story of David

• The third level is the story of David’s individual life and God’s work within his story, which we are exploring all through this summer in our series “The Pursuit of God: The Life of David.”
• In light of level of the individual narrative, the story of David and Goliath is a story of victory and reliance upon God, and an affirmation of David’s anointing and choice as the new king with a heart for God.
• It reminds us that every individual story can be a part of God’s covenant story and metanarrative, joining in with something bigger than ourselves for God’s goodness and power to be seen on earth

If we can read the story of the Bible in this way—at these three levels simultaneously—it helps us to better interpret the story, but also understand how to connect our lives with the story God is telling. So, what might it mean for us today to live into God’s story at all three levels. Let me make some suggestions about what this means for us.

The Story of God for us

• Here we ask: What story is God writing in the world and how can we join with it?
• First, we can ask ourselves whether we have a sense of God’s bigger purpose in the world and history? David saw it, but do we? 
• Can we recognize the spiritual powers at work in the world (Ephesians 6) and turn toward God?

The Story of God’s People for us

• Here we ask: what story is God writing in and through His people, and how might we take our part in it?
• Have we joined in with God’s people through faith in Christ?
• Do we see in David’s story that, God can work in and through us, using our ordinary spiritual gifts, abilities, personalities, and experiences when we put them ourselves and what we have into God’s hands? Have we given ourselves to others and have we taken our place with our gifts in the church?

The Story of Individuals for us

• Here we ask: what story is God writing in our life and how might we cooperate with God in it? 
• Are we resisting God or working with God in our lives?
• Are we trying to write our own story or are we letting God invite us into His better story that involves our best self?

May we be people who, like David, not only have a heart for God but also join with God by faith for God’s goodness and power on earth.