His story from shepherd, to warrior, to lover, to sinner, and to musical poet is truly the stuff of a Hollywood epic motion picture. Which is no doubt why he is celebrated in so many great artworks such as Michaelangelo's statue. It's quite surprising there has yet to be a biopic film of his life to match the epic scale of the Ten Commandments or The Passion. However the recent television series of House of David on Amazon has provided great quality and detail on the story. This was ultimately a man who was rich with faith in God, and thru this faith he achieved great glory. However despite winning the favor of God throughout his lifetime, he still endured many conflicts and troubles during his reign. Perhaps his greatest sin of all was that of Bathsheba, which I believe somewhat taints his overall righteousness. Nonetheless he was considered by the Jews as their greatest king and disciple of God, which is demonstrated in their primary symbol, the Star of David.
The Battle with Goliath
God eventually loses favor with King Saul, after he does not fully obey the Lord's commands to slaughter the king of Amalek. This brings great despair and torment to Saul which will eat away at him until the end of his life. He is able to find temporary peace from the young shepherd boy named David, who plays the harp for him. David is the son of Jesse, from Bethlehem, the tribe of Judah, who is devout in his faith.. As a young boy David has killed a lion and a bear, has heard the calling of God, and is anointed by the prophet Samuel as the new chosen one. Little does King Saul know that this young boy playing the harp for him, has now overtook God's favor from him.When the Israelites go to war against the Philistines, they are faced with a tremendous foe named Goliath, who stands 6.5 feet tall. Goliath offers a challenge that any Israelite come to face him as he defies their God. The Israelites however are consumed by fear and none step up to his challenge, until the young David arrives. David presents his case to the army and then to King Saul, stating it is not about the greatest of Goliath, rather the greatness of God. He is able to convince Saul to allow him to be Israel's chosen champion to fight the Goliath. David chooses not to wear armor yet to only equip himself with a slingshot and 5 stones.
David then confronts Goliath and tells him he will cut off his head for insulting the lord. At this point David hurls his slingshot, where the stone embeds itself in Goliath's forehead and kills him instantly. David then proceeds to use Goliath's sword to cut off his head, and present it to the field of battle. This becomes a rally cry for the Israelite army who send the Philistines into a retreat. Saul and his son Jonathan embrace David as the new hero of Israel, and many begin to sing of his praises. Saul offers his daughter Michal in marriage so that David would become his son-in-law.
The Jealousy of Saul
David continues to fight and slay many Philistine armies under the command of King Saul. News of his victories spreads throughout the lands of Israel. Saul grows agitated at the songs that claim "he kills thousands, while David kills tens of thousands". He begins to sense that God has now chosen David as the favored successor to be king. Meanwhile his son and heir-apparent Jonathan feels no malice towards this opposition, yet rather shows loyalty and love towards David. And David loves him in return, with subtle hints of a homosexual relationship. Jonathan later warns David, that his father intends to kill him. David begins to amass a great following and army in the land of Judah, however does not seek to usurp King Saul.On various occasions Saul attempts to entrap or have his army defeat David in battle but continuously fails at these plots. David becomes aware of the king's resent towards him and at one point he confronts and spares the life of Saul. This only drives Saul into further remorse and madness who later turns to the Witch of Endor to help him find counsel. The Witch uses necromancy to rise up the dead spirit of the prophet Samuel. Samuel informs Saul that God no longer favors him and further more he will die in the next battle against the Philistines. This harsh prophecy comes to reality the following day when Saul and his sons (including Jonathan) are killed in battle.
David becomes King
Following the death of King Saul, his son Ishbaal became king over Israel for a brief two years. Meanwhile David reigned over the kingdom of Judah yet mourns the loss of Jonathan, whom he loved. Civil war wages for a couple years between the House of Saul and the House of David until Ishbaal is killed. David then becomes the sole ruler of a unified Israel and turns the city of Jerusalem as it's capital. He brings the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem and intends to build a great temple to house the ark and honor the lord, however the prophet Nathan forbids it. God makes it clear that David has shed too much blood to build his temple and that this honor should go to his son (Solomon).From his new capital city in Jerusalem, also known as Zion, David waged many more military campaigns. He achieved victories against the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites, the Amalekites, and the Ammonites. With each victory he achieved more wealth and power for Israel against it's neighboring lands. He also shows favor to the House of Saul, since he loved Jonathan, and welcomes Jonathan's son Meribbaal to eat at his table. From then on the House of Saul no longer opposed David's rightful rule as king.
David's affair with Bathsheba
In a unique twist on what appeared to be a man of pure righteousness, David later commits a terrible sin of wickedness. He spies a beautiful woman named Bathsheba, and commits adultery with her. While it was common for a king to take on mistresses and concubines, to seek a married woman like this was a total sin. But that was only a minor part of the sin and the greater sin came in what he did to Bathsheba's wife. Knowing that Bathsheba was likely pregnant with David's child, he ordered that her husband fight and die on the front lines of battle. David then married the widowed Bathsheba, who gave birth to four of his children including Solomon.The prophet Nathan later discovers this great sin and confronts David by telling him God is aware of this great sin and that he will forever be punished for it. His punishment is that his first son will die, and great evil will come upon his house (which is a later reference to the rebellion brought on by his son Absalom). From this point on David is humbled once again, mourns for some time, and then returns to great prayer and devotion to the Lord. God later forgives David for his sincere repentance and takes favor on his newly born child Solomon, who will build the temple of the lord.
The Rebellion of Absalom
As part of David's punishment for his great sin, God later turns his son Absalom against him. The young Absalom kills his brother and heir-apparent Amnon for raping their sister Tamar. Absalom then went into exile for three years before he returned to Israel to lead a revolt against his father. He eventually wins favor of the people and declares himself king over Hebron, the former capital of Judah. He amassed a great army, causing David to flee Jerusalem. David then enlists his servant Hushai to infiltrate Absalom's counsel. Hushai is able to manipulate Absalom into not attacking David's fleeing forces yet to rather build up the defenses of Jerusalem. This gives David time to regroup and rebuild his own forces.David then enlisted the commander Joab to assault the armies of Absalom but gave specific instructions that his son Absalom was not to be harmed. At the Battle of the Wood of Ephraim the army of David met against the army of Absalom. There were twenty thousand casualties in this battle in the forest where Joab's army defeated Absalom's rebellion. Absalom famously died during this battle when his long hair got caught in a branch and his horse rode away. Hanging from a tree, the commander Joab thrust his spear to kill the young prince, and disobey David's request that his son not be harmed. David is once again tormented by grief at the news of the death of his son Absalom.
His Final Years
After the rebellion of Absalom comes to an end, David returns to Jerusalem to continue his reign over Israel. However the kingdom is beginning to show signs of frailty due to David's remorseful state. The commander Joab confronts David for lacking gratefulness to the army that brought him defeat against this son's uprising. Further division begins to grown between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, of which another civil war breaks out lead by the Benjaminite, Sheba. David appoints Amasa to lead the assault against Sheba, however feeling betrayed Joab kills Amasa to continue his command of the army of David. Once again Joab achieves the military glory by defeating Sheba and squashing another rebellion.It is likely in his final years that David spent most his time in prayer to God, writing his famous psalms of prayers, poems, and songs to the lord. His eldest son Adonijah began to show ambition to take the throne and established a partnership with the ruthless commander Joab. However the prophet Nathan made Bathsheba and David aware of this plot, and convinced David to proclaim Solomon as the rightful heir and king of Israel. Before David's death his final instructions to his son Solomon was that Joab was to be killed for his disobedience. He also told him to keep true to the Lord's mandates honoring the laws of Moses and to build him a temple worthy of his name. David then died, having ruled over Israel for 40 years, and was buried in Jerusalem.