We Saw the David Movie and Here’s What We Thought….

This past weekend we took our 4 year old son to see the David movie in theaters as part of his Christmas present.  Our family has been waiting for this movie to come out for about 2 years, as we've followed along on Angel Studios app and watched all of the Young David series episodes numerous times.  The music captured my children's hearts as we eagerly anticipated the release while singing The Lord is My Shepherd, and The Rhythm of Grace over and over.

We told friends about the kid's show, and what the movie was about.  Our son even has a Tallie stuffed animal sheep, David's special baby sheep in the kid's show.  Raising sons today seems like an important task, as our culture tries to redefine masculinity or simply attack men from all angles it seems.  So finding a biblical role model, that exemplifies bravery, masculinity, courage, and strength, and yet gentleness, passion and faith is very important to us.  When we heard the vision for this movie- to bring Disney like quality to a Biblical character and narrative, we were in, and let me tell you-they did not disappoint!

Was it Biblically Sound?

First things first.  Was this movie biblically sound.  My husband and I both have degrees in Biblical and Theological studies, and it's fair to say we can be on high alert when it comes to Biblical interpretation and different agendas pushed especially at kids in books, movies, tv shows etc.  And we were pleasantly surprised at the integrity they held throughout-yet in a child appropriate way.

The only major "adaptation" I caught that wasn't entirely biblical was the size of Goliath.  The Bible tells us he was more in the 9 foot range, but, the movie portrays him like a fairy tale giant, epic in size, to get the point across to kiddos.  I'm fine with that it was dramatic effect to help kids visualize the weight of the situation. Oh but he does have the 6 finger thing going on-wonder how many people caught that? (2 Samuel 21:20-22)

Did the movie nail all things from a middle eastern perspective? I'm sure not-I'm not an expert in that area, but I was super pleased in both the movie and the tv show at multiple songs sung in Hebrew.  In the movie Samuel sings a short beautiful song at the anointing of David, and the characters refer to God as El Shadai and Adonai, David even calls his mother Imma.

Was it Scary?

A very valid question to ask, especially when considering taking young children to see this movie, but one that I can't fully answer for your individual child.  For our son, he did great.  I think the only part that really "scared" him was actually one of the opening scenes where a lion comes and David is trying to protect his herd of sheep.  I looked over at our son, holding his sheep stuffed animal as he was sitting up on his knees, very concerned and holding up his other hand between himself and the screen to protect her.  It was adorable, and a memory I hope I never forget!

The Goliath part was not super scary, and spoiler alert no beheading is shown-I was waiting to see where that was going. The Amelekites honestly were a little creepy to me, but I feel like the way the movie incorporated music, they did a wonderful job of showing God's victory and kept the dark moments brief.  Even Saul's tormenting was very well portrayed. Though we don't know the exact thoughts he struggled with, the movie uses creative license to show him dealing with almost PTSD at the day Samuel told him the kingdom would be torn away from him for his disobedience to God.

How Was the Music?

The music.  OH my word.  Where do I begin.  Now I am not naturally a person to buy a movie sound track or obsess over songs.  But when I tell you we bought the sound track in less than 24 hours, that should tell you how good it was.  And if you're like me, I didn't know that Phil Wickham, one of our favorite Christian artists who we've seen in concert multiple times, is the voice of adult David-you will be in for a treat.  Amazing-couldn't have picked a better person in my opinion-they absolutely nailed it.

Which song is our favorite?  I think my husband's is Shalom, an absolutely beautiful song, the one David sings before Saul to calm him.  I think our son Thaddeus still loves Follow the Light, and just to be different than my husband, though I really like the Shalom song, the artistic beauty of how they put together Why God - My God song is one of my favorite. David and his mother sing this song together in almost a round style alternating throughout the movie with the line Why God and My God.  And that brings me to one of my favorite parts of the whole film.  The relationship between David and his mom-but I'll get to that in a minute!

Would you Recommend?

Would I recommend this movie?  Yes 100% 10 out of 10.  It not only hits, all the aforementioned elements we were looking for in a movie with a role model for our son, but, it tells a biblical narrative, and portrays a positive story of David's whole family.  Though scripture doesn't tell us anything about David's mother, the filmmakers took that opportunity to create a story of sweet connection between them.  We know that David was for some reason overlooked when Samuel first came, but we don't know exactly why.  But for the youngest son, who was likely overlooked in many ways, David's mom seems to hold a special place for him in her heart, and she is not surprised, that God has chosen him of all her boys to be the next king of Israel.

David doubts and even tries to avoid being anointed as king, but both Samuel and his mother, encourage him to trust the Lord's decision, and to follow Him.  I know some people are bothered when filmmakers put creative license in place, but to me, as long as it doesn't fall outside the bounds of scripture or present a scenario that was so culturally or historically inaccurate, I love it.  Putting flesh and bones to biblical narrative through story form makes me think deeper and engage with scripture more.  What did David's mom say to him?  Was she a musical influence in his life?  Who taught him to play the harp?  What was going through David's mind when Samuel came?  How did he develop such a deep faith in God, when half of the Bible wasn't even written yet?

I cannot wait for this movie to release for home purchase so we can watch it again and again.  I pray that you and your family love it as much as we do, and that your sons, and your daughters are encouraged by the example of faith in David, and the faithfulness of our God.  May David's heart and life as a Shepherd King, point us to our true and forever Shepherd King, Jesus.