The Angel Studios animated movie about young David is not a Hallmark movie. The Biblical basis of the movie is clear from beginning to end, but the key empowering trait of this movie is the character of David lived out in action. Sometimes intense action. The confrontation of the Israelites with the Philistines and the Amalekites includes not just tribal warfare, but also pagan worship that was their source of empowerment. Goliath, in particular, is shown in direct defiance of YHWH, screaming at Him in the heavens. King Saul’s mental illness is clearly portrayed as due to demonic influence, that David’s worship songs overcome when he sang.
But this isn’t primarily about evil spirits or spiritual warfare - that is just the context for David’s character, his love for God, his influence on those around him, to show why he was the true and correct king of Israel. There are several songs that match the circumstances and needs of the situation at hand. He knows the names of his sheep. He confronts a lion to protect them. He is often challenged by both people and circumstances and is able to summon up his faith in God to meet the challenges. The movie makes evident to a young audience a lifestyle of walking with and serving God, that it is not easy because life is not easy, but that with God is worthwhile. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, although the movie ends just as peace comes to Israel, but does not portray it in action, just its arrival.
One theme of the movie is that when government leaders do not do what is right, the people are divided. Some choose to follow the government, some choose to honor and serve God. The resulting social and cultural friction makes them vulnerable to outside threats. In the movie, the Philistines and the Amalekites are the threat. The Israelites become prey to strong and united evil. But these evil tribes become weak when God-honoring Israel is united in serving Him. And it is clear that the source of governmental strength or weakness is the righteousness or its lack in the king, as the government surrounds and follows him. When the king sins, the consequences for the nation are division, unrest, and vulnerability. (The movie does not go this far, but we know from Scripture that later in David’s reign, it happened again.)
A philosophical rabbit-trail. Saul and David were both kings but the observations above apply equally to leaders or rulers regardless of how they came into power. We now have presidents and prime ministers and autocrats of various types who came into power by many different mechanisms. Elections (some rigged, some free and fair), political negotiations, revolutions, coups d’etat, and inherited (very rare these days). Saul was the peoples’ choice because he was tall and looked the part. David was chosen by God and had to prove himself while God was simultaneously training and preparing him, eventually acknowledged by the people. From whence does legitimate political power come? This movie does not directly address the divine right of kings, asserted during the 17th and 18th centuries, but speaks to legitimacy. A ruler who serves God wholeheartedly brings blessing to those he or she governs. When that ruler falls short, the people are impacted, and when they turn from God, the people they rule suffer. Regardless of their claimed doctrine - economic, social, political - their practice of righteousness, or lack thereof, is the litmus test of their reign. And it goes without further elaboration, this applies to leaders at all levels.
Returning to the movie, the graphics and the music are very well-done. The prophet Samuel is portrayed oddly, without a forehead; I haven’t figured out if this is significant. David’s mother sings a few songs to encourage him and to talk about the stuff of life, like God weaving a tapestry in your life that is made up of threads that are individually just thread. The animations are sometimes so lifelike the viewer might think they are photography.
Overall, the movie is designed to appeal to and inspire young men ages ten and up, but it also lifts the spirits of adults as well.
