David's Fragile Kingdom

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Silence! Hear now the judgment of the Lord, O giant slayer! 00:00:10 Speaker 1: The sword shall never leave your house. Blood shall answer blood. Because you have dealt in violence, so too shall violence rise in your own walls. 00:00:24 Speaker 3: I will raise evil against you from your own kin. 00:00:29 Speaker 4: And your wives, those you thought secure in silence. 00:00:34 Speaker 2: Will take lovers before all Israel to see. 00:00:38 Speaker 1: You sinned in secret, David, but your punishment will stand in the sun for everyone to view with their own eyes. 00:00:50 Speaker 5: We have no inheritance with David as our king. 00:00:55 Speaker 3: We have no claim with the son of Jesse. 00:01:01 Speaker 5: Take the mighty man. Pursue him before he disappears into the hills. If Sheba crosses the fortified cities, we. 00:01:08 Speaker 1: We will not get enough of the blood of every ghost. 00:01:14 Speaker 3: Sheba may not have an army, but he's clever. 00:01:18 Speaker 5: He's got the poor, the angry, and the desperate. 00:01:20 Speaker 1: And that may be worse. Mad dog without a leash. Cut off the hand quickly and clean. He'll storm the night just one strike. Shewa's eyes widened when he saw Joab and David's mighty men waiting below. The city's warriors caught up moments later. They didn't hesitate. One stroke, clean and final. Peace in Israel was like morning mist. It never lingered. No sooner had one rebellion been buried than the old enemy rose again The Philistines had not forgotten their hatred. Quiet as a snake in tall grass, they had rebuilt their strength, waiting for the old lion to grow slow, waiting for his pride to thin. Abishai and David stood over the map. Philistines are pressing at our borders. Small raids in the farmlands. They're testing our strength. Who leads them? They call him Ishbi-Benob. He's the kin of Goliath. David paused, clenching his jaw. Another giant. But he was no longer a young man. Everything in his aching bones wanted to hold back and let his men march for him. But he was the giant slayer. We march. David was not a man to cower in his palace. Even aged and aching, he donned his armor and took to the field. David marched with his men to the jagged valley. Abishai rode close to the king, watchful and mindful of the king's importance. Across the field, the Philistines assembled with the thunder of drums and the clash of spears. From the parting crowd strode a shadow, towering. Armoured in forged bronze, a giant reborn from the ashes of Gath. Ishvai-Beenog, they called him, kin to Goliath. A mountain with a spear in hand and murder in his heart. 00:03:49 Speaker 3: Lord, you slew Goliath. 00:03:52 Speaker 1: You are the champion, not I. He turned to his army, voice strong though his body faltered. 00:04:01 Speaker 5: For the glory of God and the love of Israel. 00:04:05 Speaker 1: Then he ran, alone at first, mad with the fervor of war. But his men followed, and the valley shook with their cry. Steel climbed on steel, flesh on flesh. The screams of dying men echoed through the rocks. David no longer felt like the younger man. He was more calculated and sparing with his swings, leaning on experience. His sword found gaps in Philistine armor and for a time he held his own. Then came the strike. A blow from Ish-Bai-Be-Nob sent the king flying, crashing onto the rocks. His armor split at the shoulder, blood leaking into the dust. The giant roared and charged. David rose just in time to raise his shield, but the force of the blow hit his elbow. 00:05:01 Speaker 2: Roar! The giant slayer! Where is your sling and staff? 00:05:10 Speaker 1: Another kick drove David back, armor grinding on stone. David had little time to feel the pain, but he already knew that a few broken ribs were stabbing at his lungs. He had to slay this giant quickly before his breath failed. The king rose, his blade flashed, catching the giant's leg. 00:05:32 Speaker 2: Where is the legendary warrior King David? 00:05:38 Speaker 1: Ishbi-Beanob growled and hurled himself forward at David. He was relentless, raining down strikes like thunder. A final downward swing shattered David's shield completely. David recoiled and swung sideways. The giant slapped the sword away with his gauntlet and laughed. The giant's hand found David's throat and lifted him high into the air. David clawed at the fingers. The world narrowed to shadows as his legs dandled. 00:06:10 Speaker 2: I will. 00:06:12 Speaker 1: Kill you now, giant slayer. 00:06:18 Speaker 2: For my brother. For Garth. 00:06:22 Speaker 3: Your name dies with you! 00:06:24 Speaker 1: The giant raised his sword to finish David, but a flash of steel bit into his leg. Ishbaibinov's grip loosened. David fell, gasping. Abishai stood behind the giant, blade drawn, fury in his eyes. I'm your opponent now, giant! 00:06:44 Speaker 3: Come at me! 00:06:46 Speaker 1: The giant advanced, and the two clashed in a storm of steel. Abishai's movements were quick, too quick for the giant to track. He drove the giant back, strike after strike, his shield ringing out like a war drum. Ish-Bai-Beenob stumbled over a crack in the ground. In an attempt to regain the upper hand, Ish-Bai-Beenob struck downward with a heavy blow. Abishai dodged, leaped forward, vaulted from a stone, and drove his sword from the giant's shoulder down into his chest. The colossus howled in pain, gagged, then fell. And with him, the shadow of Goliath fell too. Abishai did not pause. He yanked the blade free and rushed to his king. David, can you speak? David lay there, bloodied and breathless. His body had been crushed. It took everything in David just to nod. The king would never ride again. My king, this may have been your final battle. David said nothing. He knew it was true. From behind the rocks, they watched the mighty men finish the rout, the Philistines scattering like leaves in the wind. The war was won, but David would not march again. His battles were over. The torch had passed to younger hands. No longer a warrior. The thought echoed through David's skull like the toll of a funeral bell. He limped through his chamber, hand pressed to his side, where Ishbaibinov's wrath had nearly ended him. Every breath ached. That one battle seemed to age him decades. He stepped onto the balcony, his brow damp with sweat. and looked out upon the city he had taken with blood and iron. Jerusalem, the city of David. It was his crown jewel. Below him, the streets buzzed, full of life and laughter, unaware that their king no longer felt whole. Without battle, what was left? A withered king? A relic of war in a time of peace? In that quiet, Temptation crept in, subtle and wicked. The enemy whispered not in shouts, but in gentle reason. If you were no longer a warrior, be a ruler of renown. Count your strength not in battles, but in people. Let the number of your subjects be your crown. And so the seed took root. David turned back into the chamber, his jaw clenched with resolve. A reckless sort of pride had taken hold, the kind that can corrupt even the chosen of God. He summoned Joab. The old commander entered with his usual grim expression. 00:10:04 Speaker 5: The Philistines have been prodding us to test our strength. It's only a matter of time before our other enemies do as well. Go from Dan to Beersheba. Number the men of war, those fit to bear arms. I want to know the measure of Israel's strength. 00:10:21 Speaker 1: Joab blinked. His eyes narrowed, and for a moment the room fell into uneasy silence. 00:10:29 Speaker 2: Do you seek to measure Israel's strength, or yours? 00:10:34 Speaker 5: Are they not the same? 00:10:35 Speaker 4: May the Lord your God add to this people a hundredfold. May you live to see it. But why does this bring you joy? Have we not fought the Lord's battles? Is it not he who grants victory? 00:10:51 Speaker 1: What profit is there in numbering what is not yours? I am king, Joab. 00:10:56 Speaker 5: Why must I keep reminding. 00:10:58 Speaker 2: You of this? 00:11:00 Speaker 3: I will do as you command. 00:11:02 Speaker 1: I'm too weary to challenge you anymore. Joab's lips tightened, but he said nothing more. He bowed low and turned to leave, though his footsteps were heavy with displeasure. The command went out like a curse. Israel was scoured from east to west. The captains of the army passed through the fields and mountains, through the forests of Ephraim and the hills of Judah. Aurora, Gad, Jazar, Gilead, Kadesh, the rule call of a kingdom. Every able-bodied man was counted. No house untouched, no tribe forgotten. It took nine months and twenty days. When they returned, Joab stood again before the king, his face grim as ever. 00:11:52 Speaker 2: There are 800,000 men of war in Israel, 500,000 more in Judah. 00:11:57 Speaker 1: David nodded. The number pleased him, though he said nothing. A kingdom vast, strong, worthy of song. But the pleasure was short-lived. Even as Joab departed, a chill fell over David's heart. The Lord had seen his vanity. He had counted what was not his to count. And heaven does not ignore such sins. Judgment was coming. The morning was soft with haze, the light pale and uncertain as it bled through the canopies of the palace garden. David walked slow and stiff, a scroll clutched in his hands. David delighted in the law of the Lord. He craved it. The law of Moses sat heavy upon his conscience. He had read it a thousand times. But this day, one line cut through him like a blade. The words of Moses. 00:13:01 Speaker 5: When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom. 00:13:06 Speaker 1: For himself to the Lord. When you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. David stopped walking. His fingers curled around the parchment, knuckles white. His breath caught in his throat. A ransom, and he had taken none. The king's knees buckled beneath him, and he dropped to the earth. Among the lilies and olive roots, the once mighty warrior bowed low. I have sinned greatly. I've acted with pride for the Lord. 00:13:43 Speaker 3: Take away my iniquity. I am but dust. 00:13:47 Speaker 1: But repentance, though honest, could not unbind what had already been loosed. The Lord's king was held to a higher standard. The next dawn found David wandering again, unrest thick in his blood. The garden was alive with the sense of spring, yet he tasted only guilt. His sandals crunched over dry leaves as he neared the oldest tree in the garden. There, beneath its twisted boughs, stood Gad, the seer, withered as bark with eyes like burnt coals. David fell to his knees without a word. Gad placed a calloused hand upon the king's shoulder. Has the Lord spoken to you, Gad? What does he say? 00:14:39 Speaker 3: He has my king. Thus says the Lord. Three judgments I lay before you. Choose one that justice may be fulfilled. 00:14:55 Speaker 1: Gad held up three fingers crooked as roots. 00:15:00 Speaker 2: One. 00:15:02 Speaker 3: Three years of famine across the land. 00:15:07 Speaker 1: He lifted another finger. 00:15:10 Speaker 3: Two, three months fleeing from your enemies, or they strike without mercy. 00:15:21 Speaker 1: Another finger lowered. 00:15:23 Speaker 3: Three, three days' pestilence from the Lord's own hand. 00:15:34 Speaker 1: Gad let the final finger linger, then curled it closed. David bowed his head, trembling. I cannot decide. 00:15:46 Speaker 5: Do not let me fall into the hands of men, but into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. 00:15:53 Speaker 1: And so the Lord sent death. The morning after, it began. It swept through the valleys and hill country like fire across dry wheat. Towns emptied, fields turned to graves. The pride David once counted vanished with the wind. 70,000 lives. Men, women, children. The land mourned beneath the sun. On the third day, David climbed the high hill outside Jerusalem and stretched out his arms. The wind howled around him like a chorus of ghosts. 00:16:36 Speaker 4: I have sinned. 00:16:38 Speaker 5: I have done wickedly in your sight. But these sheep, what have they done? 00:16:43 Speaker 2: Strike me instead. 00:16:45 Speaker 5: Let your wrath fall upon my house, not theirs. 00:16:49 Speaker 1: He tore his robe and collapsed to the earth. And when he rose again, he built an altar on the threshing floor of Orona the Jebusite. He laid wood and stone, poured the blood of beasts, and prayed. Not the empty words of a tired king, but the broken plea of a man who knew he had failed. This was what God saw when he chose a boy from the pastures, Not a perfect king, but a penitent one. A heart that bled, repented and returned again. A heart after God's own. 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.