Commentary - 1 Samuel 29:1-11

Bird's-eye view

In this remarkable chapter, we see the sovereign hand of God extricating David from an impossible situation that was entirely of his own making. Having fled from Saul, David engaged in a series of compromises and deceptions, attaching himself to Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. This arrangement has now come to its logical and disastrous conclusion: the Philistine army is mustering to fight Israel, and David is expected to join them. He is caught. He must either be a traitor to his own people or a traitor to the king who has given him refuge. But God, in His providence, uses the suspicion and political savvy of the other Philistine lords to rescue His anointed. This is a story of God's severe mercy, protecting David not only from his enemies, but from himself.

The narrative is filled with dramatic irony. The Philistine commanders, in their pagan pragmatism, speak more truth about David's ultimate loyalties than David does himself. Achish, the pagan king, swears by Yahweh and calls David an "angel of God," yet is forced to send him away. David, for his part, must maintain his deceptive cover to the very end, feigning outrage at being excluded from a battle against his own countrymen. The entire episode is a masterful display of how God works all things, including our foolish compromises and the unbelief of our enemies, for the good of His people and the furtherance of His covenant plan.

Outline

The Text

1 Then the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish.

The stage is set, and the pieces are moving into place for a great battle. The Philistines gather at Aphek, and Israel at Jezreel. This will be the very battle where Saul and his sons are killed. And right there, marching in the ranks of the uncircumcised, is David, God's anointed king, along with his band of mighty men. He is bringing up the rear with his personal patron, Achish. This is the bill coming due for David's long sojourn in Ziklag. He has been pretending to be a loyal vassal, raiding the enemies of Israel while telling Achish he was raiding Judah. The whole charade has been a high-wire act, and now the wire is about to snap. He is marching to war against the people of God.

3 Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?”

Here the divine intervention begins, and it comes through the mouthpiece of skeptical pagans. The other Philistine lords are not as naive or as personally invested in David as Achish is. They see a contingent of Hebrews marching with them to fight Hebrews, and they ask the commonsense question: "What are these Hebrews doing here?" Their suspicion is God's instrument. Achish offers a defense, but it is a weak one. He appeals to David's track record with him, emphasizing his long and faultless service. But this is the testimony of a man who has been thoroughly deceived. David has not been faultless; he has been a masterful liar. God is now using the clear-eyed unbelief of the commanders to unravel the web David has woven.

4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?”

The commanders are not just suspicious; they are angry. They see the monumental strategic blunder Achish is about to make. Their reasoning is impeccable. The heat of battle is the perfect opportunity for a turncoat to turn his coat. How could David best reconcile with his king, Saul? By turning on the Philistines and bringing their heads to Saul as a peace offering. Their logic is entirely worldly, but it happens to align perfectly with God's covenant purposes. And to seal their argument, they quote the hit single from the Israelite Top 40. They remember the song that celebrated David's slaughter of their own people. The very source of David's fame among the Israelites is now the source of the Philistines' distrust. It is a profound irony. The Philistines remember David's true identity better than David is currently living it.

6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the camp are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. 7 So now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.”

Achish is now in a bind. He has to bow to the political pressure from the other lords. He summons David and begins with a stunning oath: "As Yahweh lives." A Philistine king swears by the God of Israel to affirm the integrity of an Israelite who is actively deceiving him. The layers of irony here are thick. Achish gives David a glowing performance review, declaring him upright and without fault. But the verdict is in: "you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords." He is being sent away not because of any fault Achish can find, but because of politics. And so God uses a political squabble among pagans to deliver His servant from an impossible moral choice.

8 And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

David has to play his part to the end. He feigns righteous indignation. He puts on a show of wounded loyalty. "Why can't I go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" The enemies he is referring to are the armies of Israel. David is forced by his own deception to voice a desire to commit treason against his own people and against his God. It is a low moment. He is asking for permission to sin grievously. This is the corner that compromise paints you into. You find yourself arguing for the very thing that would destroy you. But God's grace is such that the answer to his disingenuous request is no.

9 But Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 So now, arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, go.”

Achish is unswayed by David's performance. He reaffirms his personal trust, elevating David with the highest praise: "you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God." This is high tribute, but it is followed by the unavoidable reality: "nevertheless." The decision of the commanders is final. Achish gives him his marching orders. Leave at first light. The matter is settled. God has spoken His "no" through the mouths of the Philistine council.

11 So David arose early, he and his men, to go in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David obeys. What else can he do? He and his men get up and head back south, away from the battle. The Philistines march north to their fateful encounter with Saul. David has been saved. He has been delivered from the consequences of his own foolishness. He did not have to fight his brothers, nor did he have to betray his host. God made a way of escape where there was no way. This is not a testament to David's cleverness, but to God's covenant faithfulness.

Application

The central lesson here is the power and wisdom of God's providence. David had entangled himself in a web of lies and compromise, and he was about to face a choice with no good options. He was stuck. But God was not. God is never stuck. He used the ordinary political suspicions of pagan warlords to rescue His anointed. He did not need David's cleverness; He simply needed David to be sent home.

This should be a profound encouragement and a sober warning for us. The warning is against thinking we can manage our lives through pragmatic compromise with the world. It always leads to a place like the one David found himself in, marching with the wrong army. The encouragement is that even when we have made a royal mess of things, God's grace is sufficient. His ability to deliver us is not dependent on our wisdom or righteousness. He can use any means He chooses, even the anger of our enemies, to pull us out of the fire. Our job is not to be clever, but to be faithful. And when we have been unfaithful, our only recourse is to repent and throw ourselves on the mercy of a God who is faithful even when we are not.