David and Bathsheba Page #6

and so does David.

Yes, I know the law.

Where are the accusers?

Under the law,

they must cast the first stone.

Where are those who will say that

I knew Bathsheba before our marriage?

DAVID:

Who will dare to say it to my face?

So there are no accusers.

You have none.

Michal.

I cannot find it in my heart

to blame you for what you do.

But you, Absalom...

:::my son:

Have I given you cause to hate me so?

Go, David, and bring Bathsheba here

to face her judges.

You have made her a queen.

It is not fitting that she should be

dragged to judgment by the people.

[CROWD SHOUTING]

My lady.

Abishai, go to the stable

and get horses.

Bring them to the gate

in the garden wall.

- Yes, sire.

- Not that way.

They'll be watching.

Go by way of the terrace.

We'll be out

before they know we've gone.

ABISHAl:

Sire.

The palace is surrounded.

DAVID:
Call the guards. Surely

my own bodyguard can be trusted.

Go. Go.

BATHSHEBA:

No, David.

We cannot fight

against the will of God.

A God who punishes the guiltless?

I am not without guilt, David.

Now I know how Uriah died.

I think I really knew

before our marriage.

Knew and put it from my mind,

I lacked the courage to face the truth.

My guilt is as great as yours.

Greater.

Because I let you bear

the burden of it alone.

- I killed him.

- I wished him dead.

God sees into our hearts, David.

[SHOUTING]

BATHSHEBA:

I am ready.

But I cannot let them take you.

I cannot let you die.

David.

DAVID:

Yes, love.

In all our time together,

you have never played for me.

Something from your boyhood...

...when you were a shepherd.

[PLAYING HARP]

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down

in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths

of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea.

Though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death...

...I will fear no evil

for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff...

...they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me...

...in the presence of mine enemies.

Thou anointest my head with oil...

...my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy...

...shall follow me

all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house

of the Lord...

...forever.

Goodness...

...and mercy.

When I wrote those words...

...I believed in such a God.

I was only an ignorant shepherd boy.

There was no one to teach me

about God.

So I taught myself.

I saw him...

...in the hills...

...in the trees...

...in the miracle of the birth of lambs.

I felt his mercy when the wolves

had fled and my flock was safe.

When spring broke the grip

of snow and ice.

When the cool wind blew

after the heat of the day...

...I saw his splendor...

...in the flowers blazing

on the hillsides...

...and the stars burning in the sky.

And knew his hand...

...in everything.

Then I wandered from him.

And when I tried to find him again...

...I had lost him.

DAVID:

Somewhere in Saul's court...

...or when I roamed the desert

in exile...

...or in the camp of the Philistines.

His image paled

in the lights of the cities...

...and his voice was drowned

in the quarreling and scheming...

...of the ambitious...

...and the mighty.

And now Nathan

has found him for me.

Not the God of my boyhood days...

...but a God without mercy.

A God who thinks only of his justice.

So you must die.

DAVID:
As the soldier died when he tried

to save the Ark from falling.

He put his hands

on the Ark like this:

You shall not die.

You shall not die.

ABISHAl:

These are all who are willing, sire.

They will be enough.

Take your stand at this door.

If anyone tries to enter, cut him down.

ABISHAl:

You two at the right of the door.

Two at the left.

Two at the wall.

You two at the stairs.

And you two at the gate here.

NATHAN:
Where is the woman?

DAVID:
She is not coming.

[SHOUTING]

Silence!

He is the king.

- You have heard the word of God.

- I have heard the word of Nathan.

You have told me

that God demands justice.

That I will believe.

I will not believe he would condemn

a helpless woman for another's crime.

- Where are you going?

- To the tabernacle.

If God is what you say he is,

if this is truly his justice...

...then let him speak for himself.

Will you go to him in anger?

He has shown me nothing but anger.

He has turned his face from me.

It was David

who first turned his face from God.

Once there was a David

who knew how to pray...

...who sought nothing for himself

at the hands of God...

...who found his strength

in faith alone.

If that David still lives,

his God will not deny him mercy.

[CROWD MURMURING]

[SHOUTING]

[WIND WHISTLING]

DAVID:

O God.

Thou God of my early youth...

...hear my prayer.

Let thine eyes...

...which alone see clearly...

...fall upon thy worthless servant.

In all things...

...have I failed thee.

My life is a waste.

My crimes are many...

...and terrible.

To my sons, I have bequeathed

the evil that is in my blood.

I have led my people

into misery and want.

I have used thee...

...with ingratitude...

...and betrayed thy trust.

I have been a faithless...

...shepherd.

I am dust in the sight of thine eyes.

I am less than the meanest creature...

...crawling on the earth.

And, yet, O God...

...I am also thy creation.

Take not...

...thy Holy Spirit from me.

Thy spirit...

...which abode with me...

...in the wilderness.

I ask nothing for myself, O God.

By my sins...

...I have put myself beyond the compass

of thy forgiveness.

But lift thine hand from thy people...

...who suffer for my crimes.

Forgive them the sin

that is not theirs...

...but mine.

Let the land thou

gavest their fathers...

...flow once more...

...with thine abundance.

And let Bathsheba live...

...to praise thy name...

...and testify to thy mercy.

Show her the loving kindness

of thy heart.

Cleanse her from sin...

...and let thy punishment...

...fall on thy servant

who has earned it.

Look not on the sinner...

...who comes before thee...

...but on the boy he was...

...who loved thee...

...and who would have died for thee.

Make my heart as his.

Let the boy live again...

...in his innocence.

Grant him thy mercy...

...and take this David's life.

[THUNDER CRASHING]

BO Y:

David?

David?

[BLEATING]

David?

David?

Your father bids you

come to his house.

I am to stay with the sheep.

The prophet is there,

the prophet Samuel himself.

It is said that he comes

to choose a king over Israel.

MAN:

Eliab.

Abinadab.

Shammah.

SAMUEL:

The Lord has not chosen one of these.

Any father would be proud

of such sons.

You do well to feel pride, Jesse.

But the Lord does not see

as man sees:
::

...for man looks

on the outward appearance...

...but the Lord looks on the heart.

Who is this?

JESSE:
My youngest son, David,

who tends the sheep.

But he's only a boy, a dreamer,

a singer of songs.

Come hither, David.

The Lord has chosen.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes