Where to find the story of david in the bible
David, the Bible's First Real Hero
the landscape of this region seems
unchanged from how it probably looked
thousands of years ago in fact it's a
landscape that's baked into the stories
of the Bible and so many of them involve
stones they're rocks all over the place
one of the most famous stories is about
a stone and a slingshot how the boy
David faced off against the great
hulking giant Goliath the same David who
the Bible says grew up to be the king
who built the city of Jerusalem David is
one of the most fascinating characters
in world literature
he looks polished David is the Bible's
first real hero David was a very
talented man who could sing who could
fight who could lead he's a poet
he's a musician we're told that he's
absolutely gorgeous to look at and God
loves him and he's been portrayed by
some of Hollywood's biggest stars in
movies such as David and Bathsheba and
King David respect what is ours and we
should keep faith with you David was
ancient Israel's greatest king he is
also one of Islam's earliest prophets
and Christians believe Jesus is directly
descended from David and yet this hero
was a deeply flawed man David was kind
of a bastard there are some texts in
which we can see so clearly it David is
a problematic character he's running a
protection racket
he's got bodies piling up all over the
place he's strategically marrying women
in different parts of the Land of Israel
to consolidate his run for the throne
but that wasn't how it all started
the first time we meet David in the
Bible he's an innocent young shepherd
boy with that stone in his hand he was
the only one from his tribe brave enough
to face Goliath
the most fearsome fighter from a rival
tribe the Philistines whom the Bible
describes as over 10 feet tall we don't
have any proof
David actually ever fought Goliath and
yet it does to a certain extent make
sense
we know that the Philistines are there
we know that the Israelites are there we
know that they're banging heads against
each other and it is written that David
felled the Giant
with only a slingshot and we all think
of it as the teeny little pea that
brought down a giant well the slingshot
at that time was in fact rather like
these sort of sniper rifle of today when
these were could be huge stones they
could be propelled at incredible
velocity and they could go straight
through Armour a handheld bazooka that
can actually stop a tank and today from
Tiananmen Square to Tahrir Square the
story is invoked when the most unlikely
heroes stand up to forces that seemed
certain to crush them Prophet David does
win against the Goliath it's not only
about him but the underprivileged the
underdog the week has rendered
victorious ultimately according to the
Bible David's triumphs continued he
recaptured the Ark of the Covenant from
the Philistines it had held the Ten
Commandments and he brought together the
warring tribes of the 12 sons of jacob
to form a nation even today the flag of
modern israel founded 3,000 years after
his reign bears the symbol known as the
Star of David
and Jerusalem is the place he chose as
his capital making it not only a holy
city but a political one too
there's evidence that King David really
lived just 20 years ago in northern
Israel archaeologists discovered a kind
of ancient royal archive called a
stealer and it mentions a house or
dynasty of David and the reading is
clear it also mentions an entity a state
like entity called Israel it may seem
like a small thing but it's an important
discovery
it makes David the earliest biblical
figure whom we can confirm actually
existed but the stealer doesn't confirm
some of the more scandalous details of
David's life David here was a guy who
was the king oh and it all he could have
anything he wanted he had absolute
loyalty of his soldiers he was on top
and then he goes out breaks a moral
covenant with God David's was on his
roof in Jerusalem and he saw this
beautiful woman bathing on the roof and
he said who's that woman they said
that's Bathsheba wife of Uriah his
height his eye is the beginning of the
problem his eye that makes him forget
everything he's heard in terms of God's
commandments he says she's hot and I I
want that bring bring me that and his
henchmen go bring him Bathsheba and so
that eye leads him to the act of
adultery and when the woman says I am
pregnant he goes deeper and deeper into
the darkness and here is where the Bible
becomes a little like pulp fiction King
David tried to cover his tracks by
getting Bathsheba's husband Uriah drunk
in the hopes that Uriah will immediately
bed his wife and be none the wiser all
does not go according to plan
david has Uriah killed and then brings
Bathsheba the intimate details of
David's personal life are unlike
anything else found in the Bible and
that suggests that some of the text is
extremely ancient and may be based on an
actual memoir or is called the good the
portrayal of David is so real it's a
familiar story the sometimes reckless
sense of entitlement that comes with
power it's known today as the Bathsheba
syndrome a lot of people think of that
as a story about sexual lust and it kind
of is but it's a story about power and
how power corrupts and Wow that's all
over our world today but this Bible
story is also a cautionary tale
Davidson's impact his children and his
grandchildren all the way down David's
sons have grown up learning how to deal
with women from their father
two of David's sons grew up to be
rapists and indeed David did suffer the
consequences of his actions
the child he's conceived with bash of
adye's and he mourns and mourns and once
again you get the old attractive lovely
David again we have to look at David in
both ways he rose to the heights of
power and he sought to the depths of
depravity and yet he comes back he
repents and the Bible tells us that God
never stops loving David he forgives the
sins of this imperfect hero David was
given a second chance a second child
with Bathsheba a son named Solomon
