David: King of Judah

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: You will sit on Israel's throne, David. 00:00:05 Speaker 3: Not I, not Saul. 00:00:08 Speaker 4: You. 00:00:08 Speaker 2: The Lord raises the humble, my brother. You may be a shepherd now, but the hand of God is upon you. I see it as clearly as I see the stars. 00:00:18 Speaker 1: Saul's weary arms slashed through the enemy as they advanced closer and closer. They pressed, but the king stood his ground until it hit. an enemy arrow whistled through the air, finding its mark on Saul's side, through flesh, through bone, into the lungs. 00:00:42 Speaker 3: So this is how it. 00:00:46 Speaker 3: How it ends. I was the. 00:00:52 Speaker 4: I. 00:00:54 Speaker 3: Was the first. Not the last. 00:01:02 Speaker 1: David sat again, the crown of Saul in his lap, heavy with blood and memory. 00:01:09 Speaker 3: He did not look up. 00:01:11 Speaker 1: He only whispered, more to himself than any other. David closed his eyes. He had won no war. He had claimed no glory. The crown had come, and with it, the curse. The sun rose like a crown over the black edge of the earth and spilled gold across the plains of Ziklag. To the common eye, it was a morning no different than the thousands that had come before it. The world turned. The light returned. Work began. But not for David. Long before the sun kissed the hills, David had climbed the eastern rise above the village. Alone he sat with his lyre strumming a song of praise to the Lord. He sang and strummed on the edge of the hill looking out at the horizon. To the north lay the lands of Judah the pride and strength of Israel. David stood between the past and the future between the man he had been and the king he was fated to become. He watched the light crawl slowly across the valley The warmth touched his cheeks like the hand of an old friend. It was as though the earth itself had turned its face to him. He closed his eyes and prayed. He prayed in the simplest of ways, no grand gestures or consultation of the ephod, just the sheep and his shepherd nestled together in the tall grass. 00:02:59 Speaker 3: Shall I rise up? 00:03:01 Speaker 5: Shall I return to Judah? 00:03:04 Speaker 1: The answer came not with fire or thunder, but with the wind, a stirring in the trees, a breath on his skin, a still, small, quiet voice. 00:03:17 Speaker 3: Rise. 00:03:19 Speaker 1: The word hummed through the stillness like a drawn bowstring. David's eyes opened. 00:03:26 Speaker 3: Where to? Who will receive me? 00:03:30 Speaker 1: To Hebron. 00:03:32 Speaker 3: At that moment. 00:03:34 Speaker 1: David felt again the weight of Samuel's oil upon his brow. He had been just a boy then, a forgotten son. No one but the Lord had seen the fire in him. But now the fire burned hotter. The burden was no longer prophecy, it was purpose. David descended the slope with steady steps. The village below stirred as he returned. Benaiah was the first to greet him with a pat on the shoulder and a cup of hot broth. 00:04:06 Speaker 2: Saul is dead. Israel is in shambles. The tribes are disunified. The Philistines plunder and burn all in their wake. 00:04:14 Speaker 3: Ziglag doesn't seem too awful. It's a pity we're leaving. I never said we were leaving. It's all over your face. 00:04:22 Speaker 1: The others gathered before him. Uriah, Jashabim, Abishai, and the other mighty men. There was a hush among them The sense that the ground itself was shifting beneath their feet. 00:04:36 Speaker 3: They were ready. 00:04:38 Speaker 1: David raised his voice, clear and fierce as a trumpet on a battlefield. 00:04:44 Speaker 4: The Lord would have us march to Judah. 00:04:48 Speaker 3: Will you go with me? 00:04:50 Speaker 1: A roar broke from the crowd, loud enough to shake the hills. Men beat swords against their shields, women wept, children clung to their mothers, and David stood at the center of it all, the sun rising behind him like a halo of fire. They packed what they could carry, tools and treasures, flocks and families, and by noon the roads of Ziklag bore the footprints of a nation in exile no longer. Their shepherd led them, and the hills of Hebron waited. The road to Hebron stretched long across the hills of Judah, winding like an old scar through the land of his fathers. Two figures could be seen riding toward them in the distance. The company halted and Benaiah drew his blade. 00:05:45 Speaker 3: Those men looked armed. We will not draw any blood. 00:05:50 Speaker 5: Do you understand? We won't have to. 00:05:54 Speaker 3: I recognize those horses. 00:05:56 Speaker 1: Abishai bolted with a giddy stride. The two figures approaching were none other than his brothers, Joab and Arsahel. The three collided into each other, embracing with tears and laughs. David rode to meet them, embracing them with familial love. Joab's gravelling and hard voice was a strange comfort to David. 00:06:22 Speaker 3: You look like you've seen a thousand lives, David. It feels that way. 00:06:27 Speaker 2: Thanks for keeping Abishai alive and in one piece. 00:06:32 Speaker 5: It was Abishai who kept me alive. 00:06:35 Speaker 3: It was good to have family close by. 00:06:38 Speaker 1: Joab's tone turned serious. His gaze surveyed the company behind David. 00:06:45 Speaker 3: We've been sent by the elders of Judah. A company of men is just around the bend, ready to escort you to Hebron. I haven't come to claim the throne, Joab. We return to serve, not to conquer. The elders seem to think otherwise. 00:07:03 Speaker 1: Benaiah and Jasherbeam flash their blades. 00:07:07 Speaker 2: What awaits us beyond the gates of Hebron? 00:07:09 Speaker 4: You're telling me after all this, they still don't trust David? 00:07:14 Speaker 3: After everything he's done. 00:07:17 Speaker 1: Benaiah shifted his stance. Joab was undisturbed by their posturing. He was a harder man than any of them. 00:07:25 Speaker 3: Put that away, boy. You'd be idiots to start a fight right now. You're at the mercy of the elders of Judah. Your fate is in their hands, and no amount of posturing will change that. David's lip twitched. 00:07:42 Speaker 1: He looked back at his men and gestured for them to be at ease. 00:07:46 Speaker 3: He then reached. 00:07:47 Speaker 1: Into his pack and retrieved Saul's crown. 00:07:52 Speaker 5: Asahel, I know you're the swiftest in the land. Return this crown to the elders as a gesture of goodwill. Tell them I've come as a servant of Judah. Abishai, go with him. Tell them of what we've done since being in exile. 00:08:09 Speaker 1: The brothers mounted their horses and disappeared around the bend. David turned to Joab, heart pounding with anxious anticipation. 00:08:19 Speaker 6: Joab, speak plainly. 00:08:23 Speaker 3: Is this a trap? 00:08:25 Speaker 1: Joab's face was impassive, revealing nothing. 00:08:30 Speaker 3: You'll have to wait and see for yourselves. 00:08:36 Speaker 1: The fire crackled in the center of the circle, throwing sparks into the twilight. Saul's crown rested atop a stone table beside the flame. The elders of Judah sat around it, their faces half in shadow, half in flame. Arsahel and Abishai reclined on the outskirts. They had said little since delivering the crown and David's message, but they listened. The weight of history was in the air. One misstep here could birth a war. 00:09:11 Speaker 5: He's the champion of our people. 00:09:15 Speaker 6: He fought for us when no other would. Even when hunted, he guarded the borders of Judah as if he were already king. 00:09:23 Speaker 4: And yet a son of Saul still lives. Ish-bosheth remains in Mahanaim with Abner at his side. To lift David above him now would be treason in the eyes of all Israel. We would be inviting war. 00:09:37 Speaker 6: War is already upon us. The Philistines lick their. 00:09:41 Speaker 5: Teeth at our borders. 00:09:43 Speaker 6: Who among you thinks Ish-bosheth will stop them? That frail child couldn't command a flock of sheep. 00:09:50 Speaker 3: A murmur rippled through the gathered men. 00:09:53 Speaker 6: Ish-bosheth is no king. He has neither fire in his belly nor iron in his spine. 00:10:00 Speaker 3: Abner's the one ruling in his name. And that dog was. 00:10:03 Speaker 6: Ever loyal to Saul's pride, not to Israel's good. Would you trade one hollow crown for another? 00:10:12 Speaker 1: Voices rose, some in anger, others in caution. The air thickened with memory and fear. The fear of another civil schism. The ghost of Benjamin against Judah. No man here had forgotten the blood spilled in the name of unity. 00:10:32 Speaker 4: But what of the people of the north? Will they follow us if we crown David? 00:10:37 Speaker 5: They may not. But the Lord has already chosen history. 00:10:42 Speaker 3: You all knew it. 00:10:43 Speaker 6: You've known it since that day in the valley when David stood alone against the giant. 00:10:50 Speaker 1: Eyes turned toward the crown. Not as a symbol of glory, but of burden. A relic forged in duty, not desire. Arsahel stood then, slowly, and set aside his empty bowl. Abishai was visibly nervous. Moving this along, Arsahel approached the roaring fire in the middle, and every elder suddenly silenced and fixed their eyes on him. 00:11:22 Speaker 5: I was on Mount Gilboa when Saul fell. My brother and I watched the destruction, barely escaping with our lives. 00:11:31 Speaker 1: I smelled the burning flesh of our kin. The United Philistine Kings are wolves. They're bloodthirsty, ravenous, and they're ruthless. 00:11:41 Speaker 4: Whoever is to be our king must be willing to face those monsters without fear. 00:11:49 Speaker 1: His words rang in the quiet like a blade drawn from its scabbard. 00:11:54 Speaker 4: No more wandering. No more waiting. Let Judah rise behind the shepherd. If blood is to be spilled, let it be for righteousness. 00:12:05 Speaker 3: The men nodded, one by one. 00:12:08 Speaker 1: And just like that, Beneath the stars of Hebron, under the eyes of the Lord and the ghosts of Israel's past, they chose their king. 00:12:24 Speaker 3: The tall gates of Hebron were in sight. 00:12:28 Speaker 1: David rode at the front, his eyes fixed on the distant walls. The sun hung low behind them, painting the sky a deep royal purple. His men said little. 00:12:41 Speaker 3: They were nervous. 00:12:42 Speaker 1: Judah had once called them rebels. The name David had once been cursed in Saul's courts. And now they marched toward a city that might equally crown him or behead him. 00:12:56 Speaker 3: David said nothing. He prayed. 00:13:00 Speaker 1: When they came within a mile of the gates, they could hear it, a low thrum. As they neared, the sound grew louder. The wind carried the timbre of drums. The air trembled beneath their feet. 00:13:15 Speaker 3: Were those drums of war or celebration? 00:13:20 Speaker 1: They reached the city walls. Then the gates opened. It began with one voice. A shout, ragged and full-throated. Then many... The people poured forth like floodwaters from a broken dam. There were no soldiers with swords. No stones hurled at their feet. Instead, there was singing, music, dancing, hands reaching toward heaven. Children threw garlands at David's feet. Old men wept. Women danced with tambourines. David's mouth parted. But no sound came. The faces before him blurred. The years of running, the caves, the betrayal, the blood, all of it melted away. His heart swelled. He had never imagined joy could feel so heavy. The crowd parted, revealing the elders of Judah atop a high platform of carved stone. Abishai and Asahel were at the base, beaming. 00:14:31 Speaker 3: In their midst. 00:14:32 Speaker 1: Stood the priests, their robes catching the light of the setting sun. And there, resting in the hands of Hebron's high elder, was the crown of Israel, the same gold once worn by a man who loved and hated David in equal measure. David climbed the steps slowly and steadily, each footfall echoing like thunder in the hush that fell. Benaiah, Jashabim, and Uriah were close behind him. At the top, he turned to face the gathered multitude. 00:15:10 Speaker 6: The giant slayer, the harvest of Bethlehem, the warrior who would not lift his hand against the king, the outlaw who guarded our borders when our king would not. You have been chosen by God and confirmed by the voice of the people. David, son of Jesse, rise now as king of Judah, not by birthright, but by divine anointing. 00:15:41 Speaker 1: The crown was raised. David bowed his head. The weight of it settled on his brow like iron and fire. He rose, and the city shook with praise. Long live King David, they cried. Long live the shepherd of Judah. From the walls to the fields beyond, the land ran with joy. 00:16:08 Speaker 3: David did not speak, not at first. 00:16:11 Speaker 1: His eyes searched the horizons. north toward Jerusalem and further still to the wall-torn hills where the rest of Israel watched and waited. Judah had chosen. 00:16:24 Speaker 3: Him, but the north had not. This was only the beginning. 00:16:30 Speaker 1: He would reign, he would rule, and one day a greater king would rise from his line, not born of court or crowned in gold, but in thorns. But that was a tale for another age. Here stood David, no longer the boy who played songs to soothe a mad king, nor the outlaw who slept among wolves. Here stood the shepherd king, crowned not in comfort, but in fire. This PrayDogCom production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gatina, Max Bard, Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan-Smith. written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.