David Marches Against Israel

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. You were a raving lunatic. 00:00:05 Speaker 2: When I last saw you, giant slayer. And now you return to me, mind intact, with an army at my doorstep. Tell me, which David stands before me now? The commander or the madman? 00:00:24 Speaker 3: I've slain giants for Israel. In return, they made me an exile. 00:00:29 Speaker 4: I'm hunted like a dog by Saul's men. We are warriors without a country. We are swords with no flesh to cut into. Allow us to settle here, and our swords are yours. 00:00:44 Speaker 2: Would you fight your own people under my command? 00:00:49 Speaker 5: Yes. 00:00:50 Speaker 1: The word left David's lips without hesitation, smooth as a dagger slipping between ribs. It was a lie. But it was all a part of a larger game. David had a plan. 00:01:04 Speaker 2: There's no way I am serving that uncircumcised monster of a king! 00:01:09 Speaker 3: We will have it all. 00:01:11 Speaker 1: I have a plan. 00:01:13 Speaker 3: As long as we bring Achish spoils, he will see us as allies. 00:01:18 Speaker 1: But listen closely. We will not raid Israelite towns. 00:01:22 Speaker 4: We will strike the enemies of Israel. 00:01:25 Speaker 1: The Geshurites, the Gizites, the Amalekites. 00:01:28 Speaker 6: We will raid their cities, take their flocks, kill their warriors. And we'll tell Achish that we've raided the lands of Israel. He will grow rich. He will trust us. 00:01:39 Speaker 4: And all the while, Israel will be safer for it. 00:01:51 Speaker 1: David walked among the village of Ziklag in the cool of the mornings. a satisfied grin on his face. Fences wrapped around fields, hearth fires crackled in homes, and children laughed between gardens and goats. He had carved a little kingdom of exiles and castoffs in the shadow of his enemies, and for a time, Ziklag was a refuge of peace. They raided for King Achish and the Philistines, claiming that the raids were against Israel. But David and his men were actually raiding against the enemies of Israel. Two birds with one sword. David stepped through the door of his house to the warm scent of stew and bread. Abigail had left a bowl for him. 00:02:44 Speaker 3: Where were you so early this morning? 00:02:46 Speaker 7: Ah, checking on the flocks. 00:02:49 Speaker 3: I know the young men can handle them on their own, but I can't help myself. Old habits die hard, I suppose. 00:02:57 Speaker 2: Some habits are worth keeping. 00:03:00 Speaker 1: David smiled at his bride, took two bites of his breakfast, then turned when he heard an urgent knock. Abishai stood in the doorway, pale and breathless. Abishai didn't wait to sit. His brow was curled into an irritated frown. David could sense a tinge of self-righteousness in his voice. 00:03:22 Speaker 2: There's trouble, David. Trouble that could have been avoided. 00:03:26 Speaker 3: You sound like your brother Joab. Say it plainly, Abishai. 00:03:32 Speaker 2: The Philistine kings have gathered at Aphek. They march against Saul and Jonathan. 00:03:38 Speaker 1: This isn't news. 00:03:40 Speaker 3: The Philistines and the Israelites are enemies. We've done all we can do from a distance, but we're not welcomed in Israel. They have to fight their own battles. 00:03:50 Speaker 2: True, Israel has to fight her own battles. But what about the Philistines? Who will fight their battles? 00:03:59 Speaker 3: Our agreement with Achish is that we raid for him. We don't march in the Philistine army. There's a difference. 00:04:06 Speaker 1: Not anymore. Does Achish demand more from us? You guessed it. 00:04:14 Speaker 2: King Ashish has summoned David. He plans to recruit his most loyal servant into his ranks. He wants us to march against the children of Israel. And if David refuses, Achish will know that he isn't loyal and will either be killed or driven out of Ziklag. We'd be lucky if we made it out of Ziklag. So David has a choice to make. Does he shed Jonathan and Saul's blood on the battlefield? or doom us and our families to burn in our own fields. 00:04:46 Speaker 1: David was silent, eyes wide with the shock of it all. His lies caught up to him. He had learned nothing from the lies he told in Nob. Truth is the only foundation solid enough to stand on. David, having built an entire village on false pretense and lies, was in free fall. We can't. 00:05:12 Speaker 3: We can't march against Israel. 00:05:14 Speaker 7: Jonathan, Joab, our kin. 00:05:18 Speaker 2: See where your lies have led us? I'm going to march against my own brothers. You're going to march against Jonathan. 00:05:26 Speaker 1: Abishai turned and slammed the door behind him, leaving David to soak in regret beside his wife. 00:05:37 Speaker 2: What have I done? 00:05:39 Speaker 1: The room spun around him. He'd walked a tightrope for over a year, fighting Israel's enemies while pretending they were Israel's allies, feasting with a Philistine king while praying for Israel's protection. But the game had come to an end. So David made the only decision a man could make when surrounded by wolves. He stood, called for Abishai and Benaiah, and when they stood before him in grim silence, he said. 00:06:09 Speaker 3: We march. 00:06:11 Speaker 1: They said nothing, only nodded. They knew there was no choice. If they refused King Achish, he would slaughter them all. David gathered his men, all six hundred of them, and led them through Ziklag. They passed the fields where their children played, the vineyards they had planted, the wells they had dug, and they marched into the Valley of Dread. Behind them, the sun dipped low. Ahead, the banners of Philistia flapped in the wind like the wings of vultures. David whirled at the front, his back turned to the looks of disdain from his men. David, the giant slayer, anointed by God and chosen to lead Israel, now marched to war against them. He said nothing, but the silence screamed. The plains of Aphek rolled like an endless sea of steel and fire. Beneath black banners and flapping war pennants, the armies of the Philistine kings gathered in their thousands. Bronze glinted in the morning sun. Chariots rumbled like distant thunder. From horizon to horizon, the earth was cloaked in armor and the breath of war. David and his men were camped separately on the outskirts. Achish had summoned him, but the other Philistine kings were suspicious. A rider came, summoning David to the council tent. He rode alone with Achish, who smiled at his side. Even with the false pretense and lies, David had grown fond of Achish. They had become something akin to brothers. The tent of kings was crimson. Staked high in the middle of the war camp, fires burned in each corner, casting shadows against the hide walls. Brass idols of Dagon leered from niches in the stone. David felt as though he were walking into a tomb. The kings were already gathered, warriors in their own right, hard men with darker eyes, lords of Ekron, Gaza, Ashdod and Ashkelon. They sat like wolves, bristling as David entered. 00:08:38 Speaker 5: What is he doing here? Is that not the Gorothak? 00:08:46 Speaker 1: Akish waved the comment off with a hearty slap to David's back. 00:08:51 Speaker 2: Gorothak has proven himself. A year in my service raiding Judah and Benjamin. 00:08:58 Speaker 1: He's bled for me, and he's thirsty. 00:09:01 Speaker 2: For more Israelite blood. 00:09:04 Speaker 1: David stood stiffly. He said nothing, and his silence only deepened their mistrust. The king of Ashdod drove his dagger into the table. 00:09:15 Speaker 7: You're an idiot, Achish. You had marched to war with a rabid dog at your side and expected not to fight. He may be your lapdog now, but when the blood runs and the battle rages, he'll remember who he is. What songs do they sing of him? Saul has slain his thousands. David his ten thousands. And who, Achish, who were those ten thousands? 00:09:42 Speaker 4: Us! 00:09:43 Speaker 2: Gorathak's blood curses with hatred. 00:09:46 Speaker 1: For the Israelites. 00:09:48 Speaker 2: Why else would he be here? 00:09:50 Speaker 7: Suck off your teats, Achish. The mongrel's using you. When he's nice and full, he'll slit your throat. 00:09:58 Speaker 1: King Achish drew his... his axe and slammed it on the table. The other kings barked as Achish and the king of Ashdod circled each other like wolves. David was bearing witness to how the Philistines handled politics. It was a game of dominance, assertiveness. It would seem that Achish was the alpha among them. But for how long? 00:10:22 Speaker 2: Gorothax made me rich man with his blade. 00:10:26 Speaker 1: Richer than you'll ever be. 00:10:28 Speaker 2: Why would I march without him at my side? 00:10:32 Speaker 7: Are you prepared to die for this dog, Achish? 00:10:35 Speaker 1: Achish surveyed the rest of the tent. The other kings were gripping their weapons. This was a battle he couldn't win. David was too universally hated to be trusted. 00:10:47 Speaker 5: I say he goes back. Send him back to whatever dirt hole you gave him. Let him guard your sheep if you must. I refuse to die with a dagger in my back because you've grown fond of your pet Israelite. 00:11:07 Speaker 1: Achish growled but relented at last. 00:11:10 Speaker 2: You're all cowards! Weak men can't lead strong men. I'll dismiss Gorothak, but only because none of you had the balls to march with a lion. 00:11:24 Speaker 1: Akish left the tent with David, kicking the dirt on his way. David still had to play the part of Akish's ally. 00:11:34 Speaker 2: You have served me well, Gorothak. You are more loyal than many I've known. I would fight beside you, aye, and die beside you if it. 00:11:46 Speaker 5: Came to it. 00:11:48 Speaker 2: But I must listen to my fellow kings, even if they are sniveling birds too weak in the legs to march with you. 00:11:58 Speaker 1: David, still playing the part of Achish's. 00:12:01 Speaker 5: Ally, sighed. 00:12:04 Speaker 3: It's why your throne will last like iron, while theirs will rot like damp wood. 00:12:13 Speaker 2: Ah, there are those poetic pleasantries again. 00:12:17 Speaker 1: Go back to Siklag. 00:12:19 Speaker 2: When we've defeated these Israelite dogs, some will likely run to our borders. 00:12:26 Speaker 6: I'll have you snatch them up. 00:12:30 Speaker 1: The two embraced. It was warm, too warm. David returned it, but his heart ached with shame. He had lied for over a year to Achish, to his men, and to himself. He turned from the king and walked alone. He didn't stop until he reached a patch of barren earth outside the camp. There he fell to his knees and wept. The cries that escaped him were not the cries of a warrior, but of a broken man. His body shook as sobs wrapped through him, bitter and unrelenting. He had come so close, so close to becoming the very thing he had sworn never to be. Face down in the dirt, David whispered to the silent heavens, Forgive me, O Lord. 00:13:27 Speaker 3: I was almost lost. 00:13:30 Speaker 1: No voice answered. No light split the sky. But David felt the weight lift. Not completely, but enough. Grace had spared him and grace would guide him home. He would need it, for what awaited David in Ziklag would be his greatest test yet. The ground squelched as David and his men marched back to Ziklag. No one had dared speak to David since the retreat from Aphek and no one needed to. Their silence spoke volumes about what they thought about their leader. Three days of bitter travel. Three nights of cold winds and colder stairs. Not long ago, David had commanded the hearts of these men. Outcasts and orphans, murderers and misfits, they had become brothers under his banner. Now, their faith in him leaked like pus from a wound. They had nearly spilled Israelite blood at his word, nearly damned themselves for his lies. David had damned himself most of all. On the third day, the marshes gave way to the familiar hills of Ziklag. The green pastures that framed their refuge rolled gently beneath the morning sun, but the tranquility was a cruel mask. Black smoke rose in thick columns ahead, curling into the sky like fingers of judgment. Benaiah stood beside David, sword already half-drawn. That smoke, it's coming from our village, our homes. Benaiah broke into a run, as did the other fathers and husbands who feared the worst. The others followed, urgency quickening their pace until six hundred men pounded across the hills in a storm of armor and dread. 00:15:33 Speaker 6: And then. 00:15:35 Speaker 1: They saw it. Zaglag was burned to a crisp. Charred timber lay scattered like bones. The well was poisoned with ash. The gardens were trampled, the livestock gone. The houses, their homes, were blackened shells. 00:15:55 Speaker 2: Who did this? 00:15:57 Speaker 1: David stood amidst the ruins of his home, ash clinging to his face, his heart flayed open. The house he had shared with Abigail was a heap of cinders. David noticed something faintly glinting in the soot, a sword hilt scorched and half buried. David drew it out and wiped away the ash. The seal was unmistakable, an Amalekite mark. 00:16:26 Speaker 3: The Amalekites. 00:16:28 Speaker 1: Benaiah turned violently toward David, taking four long strides and striking him hard in the mouth. David fell into the ash. 00:16:37 Speaker 5: You made us march away from our families. 00:16:40 Speaker 2: The Amalekites never would have attacked if we had been here. 00:16:44 Speaker 1: David's breath caught in his throat. His hands trembled. Around him the others wept. Hard men, some with a hundred kills to their names, fell to the earth and sobbed like children. Fathers called out for children who would not answer. Husbands clawed through the ruins, praying to find a sign, a shred of cloth, anything. But there were no bodies. The Amalekites had taken all of them. 00:17:14 Speaker 4: This is your fault, David. 00:17:16 Speaker 6: You should be stoned for this. 00:17:19 Speaker 5: My daughter is gone. Her blood is on your hands. 00:17:24 Speaker 1: David didn't look up. He didn't protest. How could he? Every word was true. He had led them to this. The cries became a chorus, an outpouring of rage and grief. Men who would once die for him now spoke of killing him. And David, the anointed one, the giant slayer, lay crumpled in the dust with nothing but his shame and a scorched blade in his hand. He had no psalm to sing No wisdom to give, only silence. He was broken and utterly alone. This PrayDogCon production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellevager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Colter-Fianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok, 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.