The Full Story
From shepherd boy to king of Israel. Fifteen years of promise, waiting, and impossible odds. This is the complete three-act structure of the musical.
Act One
The Shepherd Called
Scene 1-3: The Eighth Son
Jesse's house. Evening. Seven sons at the table. One seat empty. David, the youngest, is out in the fields with the sheep - not as punishment, but because he fits better there. More comfortable with animals than people. More interested in his harp than his father's stories.
One night, alone in the darkness, a lion attacks the flock. David kills it with his bare hands. Afterward, shaking, blood under his fingernails, he sits beneath the stars and asks: "Was that You?"
Song: "Do You See Me"
Scene 4-6: The Kingdom in Crisis
King Saul is falling apart. The Spirit of God has departed, and something darker has taken its place. He rules from a throne he can barely sit in, haunted by dreams and whispers.
The prophet Samuel, ancient and grieving, receives God's command: stop mourning for Saul. Go to Bethlehem. Anoint a new king from Jesse's sons.
Scene 7-9: The Anointing
Samuel arrives in Bethlehem. Jesse lines up seven sons. Samuel examines Eliab, the eldest, and thinks: "This must be him." But God says no. "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
Seven sons. Seven rejections.
"Are these all the sons you have?"
Jesse hesitates. "There remains yet the youngest. But... he is keeping the sheep."
David enters dusty and confused. Samuel whispers "Don't be afraid" and pours oil over his head. The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon David from that day forward.
Song: "The Lord Sees"
Scene 10-14: The Waiting
David returns to the fields. Anointed king. Still sitting with sheep. No one explains what happened. His brothers, who once ignored him, now hate him.
Word reaches Saul that a shepherd boy plays music that can calm troubled spirits. David is summoned to court. He sees the king - this tall, wrecked figure - and his heart breaks. He plays. Something happens. The tension drains from Saul's face.
David meets Prince Jonathan. Something clicks between them immediately. Neither knows their friendship will become legendary.
Scene 15-18: The Giant
The Philistines invade. Two armies face each other across the Valley of Elah. Between them: Goliath. Nine feet of bronze-covered death. For forty days, he mocks Israel's army, Israel's king, Israel's God.
Song: "The Giant's Taunt"
David arrives delivering supplies. He hears Goliath's challenge. Watches Israel's army shrink back. Something rises up in him: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
Saul tries to give him armor. David refuses. He walks into the valley with a staff, a sling, five smooth stones.
Song: "In the Name"
The sling whirrs. The stone flies. Goliath falls face-first into the dust.
Scene 19-21: The Cost
Victory celebration. Women dance through the streets: "Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands!"
Watch Saul's face. The moment jealousy enters. The moment everything breaks.
That night, Jonathan finds David. Without a word, he removes his royal robe and places it on David's shoulders. Then his armor, sword, bow, belt. "My soul is yours. Whatever comes. Whatever it costs."
Song: "Soul Knit to Soul"
But in Saul's throne room, the harmful spirit comes. The women's song echoes. "Ten thousands."
Song: "Ten Thousands"
Act Two
The Beloved Exile
Scene 22-24: The Spear
Saul's throne room. David playing. Then the spirit comes. Saul's face changes. His hand finds the spear. He throws. David dodges. Throws again. David flees.
Jonathan is caught between his father and his friend. "Don't make me choose. Not yet."
A field outside Gibeah. The signal. Jonathan shoots arrows. "Is not the arrow beyond you?" - meaning flee. They embrace one last time. "Will I see you again?" Jonathan doesn't answer.
Scene 25-26: The Cave
Michal, Saul's daughter and David's wife, helps him escape. "If I run with you, my father will never stop. If I stay, I can slow them down."
David flees to the Cave of Adullam. He has nothing. No wife, no position, no friends, no plan.
Then men start arriving. "Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul." The broken. The ruined. The outcasts. Four hundred of them.
Song: "The Cave"
Scene 27: The Priests' Blood
Saul massacres the priests of Nob for helping David. Eighty-five priests killed. Then the whole town - men, women, children.
Abiathar escapes, finds David. "Saul has killed the priests. All of them. Because you came to us."
David receives this like a physical blow. "I knew. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house." He carries this guilt forever.
Scene 28-29: The Lord's Anointed
A cave at En-gedi. Saul enters alone. David and his men hiding in the darkness.
"This is the day! The Lord has delivered your enemy into your hand!"
David creeps forward. Could kill Saul. Has the right. The opportunity. Instead, he cuts off the corner of Saul's robe.
"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed."
Song: "The Lord's Anointed"
Years pass. David spares Saul again - taking his spear and water jug from the camp. Saul repents. Nothing changes. David, at his lowest, goes to live among the Philistines. The anointed king hiding among Israel's enemies.
Act Three
The Mighty Fallen
Scene 30-31: Ziklag Burns
Philistines mass against Israel. David is in an impossible position - living with enemies about to attack his people. Providence intervenes: the Philistine commanders don't trust him, send him back.
He returns to find Ziklag in ashes. Amalekites raided. Every woman and child captured. Including his wives.
His men weep until they can't. Then turn on David. Talk of stoning him.
Absolute bottom. "David strengthened himself in the Lord his God."
He inquires. "Shall I pursue?" "Pursue. You will recover everything." He does.
Scene 32-33: Mount Gilboa
Battle. Israel routed.
Jonathan fighting. Brave to the last. Falling.
Saul wounded by archers. Begging his armor-bearer to kill him. The armor-bearer refusing. Saul falling on his own sword.
Father and son, dead on the same mountain.
A messenger brings David the news, expecting reward. David has him executed. Even now. Even after everything.
Scene 34: The Lament
David alone. The weight of everything.
Jonathan dead. The best man he ever knew. The friend who gave up everything for him. Dead on a mountain. David never got to say goodbye.
Saul dead. The king who loved David, needed David, tried to murder David. Dead by his own hand.
Song: "How the Mighty Have Fallen"
Scene 35-36: The Shepherd King
The elders of Judah come to David. Anoint him king over Judah. He is thirty years old.
After civil war and consolidation, all tribes come. "We are your bone and your flesh. You shall be shepherd of Israel." They anoint him king over all Israel.
Jerusalem. The Ark being brought up. David dancing before the Lord with all his might.
He looks ridiculous. He looks free. He looks like a man who has waited fifteen years for a promise and finally seen it fulfilled.
Song: "The Shepherd King"