David and his Abs

I've really enjoyed using "The Narrated Bible" for my bible study. The idea is to put the bible in chronological order. I'd been reading from the beginning for some time. Then our small group studied Genesis followed by Exodus. Wow! The OT is not dead! I think we had some very interesting discussions.

Since then I've gone on through the story of David. The NB combines Samuel and Chronicles to keep the story all together. The "Abs" referred to in the title are ABner, JoAB and ABsalom, but really it includes all the other folks involved. I wonder what it was like to be a person hearing the story or experiencing it in reality. Did they understand the motives of all the different people? I can't decide if I'm too dense or lazy to really get it or if we all just think very differently in our modern times. I imagine I'm watching it like a play so that I can stop a character (and the play) and ask him "Why are you doing this? What are you feeling right now?" Maybe he would tell me. Then the action would begin again and he would stab someone with a spear or whatever. Why did so-and-so do this-n-that? The broader story isn't that hard to understand but there are all sorts of little things going on that perplex me. I wonder if anyone has written a fictional account trying to fill in the emotions of the characters while staying true to the actual bible story. Hey, all you readers out there! Here is your chance to fill me in!