Providence in the Trenches: Text: 1 Samuel 29:1-11
Introduction: Caught in Your Own Cords
There are situations in the Christian life that can only be described as a tangled mess. These are the messes we often make for ourselves through a series of small compromises, pragmatic decisions, and failures of faith. We drift from trusting God's explicit promises and begin to rely on our own cleverness. We think we can manage the world, play the angles, and use the system for our own ends without getting entangled in it. But the world always plays for keeps. Before we know it, we find ourselves marching in the wrong army, allied with the wrong people, heading toward a battle we should never fight.
This is precisely where we find David in 1 Samuel 29. For sixteen months, he has been living a double life in Philistine territory. He fled there out of a lapse in faith, thinking Saul would eventually kill him. He allied himself with Achish, the king of Gath, and has been playing a dangerous game of deception, raiding Israel's enemies while letting Achish believe he was raiding his own countrymen. He has been a successful deceiver. So successful, in fact, that Achish now trusts him completely and has made him his personal bodyguard for the upcoming war against Israel. David is trapped. His cleverness has painted him into a corner from which there is no honorable escape. He is marching with the uncircumcised Philistines to make war on the people of God, the very people he has been anointed to rule. He is on a collision course with his own destiny.
How will he get out of this? Will he turn on Achish in the battle? Will he be forced to kill his own brothers, including his dear friend Jonathan? The problem seems insoluble. But our God is a God who specializes in insoluble problems. This entire chapter is a master class in the secret providence of God. It is a demonstration of how God can use the sinful suspicions of pagan lords, the misplaced trust of a pagan king, and the panicked protests of his compromised servant to accomplish His perfect will. God is about to rescue David, not because of David's righteousness, but in spite of his foolishness. He will deliver him from the consequences of his own bad decisions, reminding us that our security rests not in our own wisdom, but in His sovereign grip.
The Text
Then the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 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. 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?” 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? Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?” 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. So now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.” 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?” 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.’ 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.” 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.
(1 Samuel 29:1-11 LSB)
The Uncomfortable Parade (vv. 1-3)
The scene opens with the mustering of two great armies. The Philistines are a confederation of five city-states, and their lords are gathering for a decisive battle.
"Then the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 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." (1 Samuel 29:1-2)
The geography is significant. They are gathering in the Jezreel Valley, the great battlefield of Israel. This is where Barak defeated Sisera, and where Gideon defeated the Midianites. It is also where King Saul and his sons will soon die. David, the anointed king of Israel, is marching with the enemy toward this fateful location. He is in the rear guard, a place of honor, serving as the personal bodyguard of a Philistine king. Every step must have felt like a betrayal. Every beat of the Philistine war drums must have echoed the pounding of his own compromised heart.
Then comes the moment of crisis. The other Philistine commanders see this Hebrew contingent and, quite reasonably, they object.
"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?'" (1 Samuel 29:3)
The question from the commanders is dripping with suspicion: "What are these Hebrews doing here?" It is the question David should have been asking himself for months. Achish, completely taken in by David's long con, defends him vigorously. He calls him "the servant of Saul," which is technically true but deeply misleading. He boasts that David has been with him for "these years," an exaggeration that shows his pride in his high-profile defector. And he gives a glowing performance review: "I have found no fault in him." David's deception has been masterful, but his success has become his cage.
A Healthy Dose of Pagan Suspicion (vv. 4-5)
The other lords are not so easily fooled. They have better political sense than Achish. They see the obvious danger.
"But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him... 'Make the man return... 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?'" (1 Samuel 29:4)
Here is the beautiful irony of God's providence. The very thing that should have been obvious to David all along is now being argued forcefully by the enemies of God. They see the conflict of interest with perfect clarity. They know that when the swords come out, blood loyalty will trump political alliance. How could David, the celebrated champion of Israel, truly fight for the Philistines? Their logic is impeccable. The quickest way for David to get back in Saul's good graces would be to turn on the Philistines mid-battle. Their self-serving pragmatism becomes the instrument of David's deliverance.
To bolster their case, they quote David's greatest hit. They remember the song that made him a national hero and fueled Saul's jealousy.
"Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?" (1 Samuel 29:5)
The song that marked him as Israel's champion now disqualifies him from being the Philistines' ally. His past faithfulness to Israel has made his present compromise untenable. God is using the memory of David's glory to save him from his current folly. The pagan commanders, in their anger and suspicion, are speaking more truth than they know. They are unwittingly doing God's work, untangling a knot that David had tied himself.
The Awkward Dismissal (vv. 6-11)
Achish is now in a bind. He must choose between his trusted bodyguard and his fellow commanders. Reluctantly, he dismisses David.
"Then Achish called David and said to him, 'As Yahweh lives, you have been upright... Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. So now, return and go in peace...'" (1 Samuel 29:6-7)
The irony here is thick enough to cut with a sword. Achish, a pagan king, swears an oath by the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to attest to the faithfulness of David, who is at that very moment caught in a web of deceit. Achish declares David "upright" and "pleasing" in his sight. But God's verdict is being rendered through the mouths of the other lords: "you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords." God has sovereignly arranged for David to be rejected. He is being kicked out of the battle he never should have joined.
But David, still trapped in his role, has to play the part to the very end. He feigns indignation.
"And David said to Achish, 'But what have I done?... that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?'" (1 Samuel 29:8)
This is a nauseating moment. We see how deep the compromise has gone. He calls the Philistines, the enemies of God, the enemies of "my lord the king." He is protesting his exclusion from a battle against his own people. We must not glide over this. This is the ugliness of compromise. It forces you to say things you don't mean, to pretend loyalty to wickedness, and to dishonor God with your lips. David's heart must have been screaming with relief, but his mouth had to maintain the lie.
Achish, ever the gullible friend, reassures David of his personal trust, even comparing him to an "angel of God," but insists he must leave to appease the other commanders. The final instructions are clear:
"So now, arise early in the morning... and have light, go." (1 Samuel 29:10)
The command to leave at first light is a providential mercy. David and his men are sent away, back to the land of the Philistines. The Philistine army marches on to Jezreel, to its fateful encounter with Saul. And David, the future king, is spared the impossible choice of treason against his people or treason against his benefactor. God has made a way of escape. He used the hard-headed unbelief of some pagans to overrule the soft-headed friendship of another, and in the middle, His servant is set free.
Providence Our Shield
What are we to make of this sordid affair? First, we must see the danger of pragmatic compromise. David's entire predicament began with a failure of faith. "One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul" (1 Sam. 27:1). That was a lie. God had promised him the kingdom. But fear led to pragmatism, pragmatism led to compromise, compromise led to deception, and deception led to this moment of crisis. Sin is a cord that binds us, and we often weave it ourselves, one seemingly small thread at a time.
Second, we see the stunning sovereignty of God. God did not approve of David's methods, but He was still ruling over them. He is the master chess player. He moves all the pieces on the board, even the black pieces, to accomplish His ultimate design. He used the Philistines' suspicion, their memory of a song, and their political infighting to extricate His anointed one from an impossible situation. As Joseph said to his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Gen. 50:20). Here, we could say to the Philistine lords, "You intended it for your own self-preservation, but God intended it for David's salvation."
This is an immense comfort for us. How many times have we found ourselves in messes of our own making? How many times have our clever plans backfired, leaving us cornered and ashamed? In those moments, we must not despair. Our hope is not in our own ability to untangle the mess. Our hope is in the God who works all things, even our foolishness, together for our good.
Finally, this story points us to the greater David, Jesus Christ. Our Lord was also tempted to compromise with the rulers of this world. Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the world if He would only bow down and worship him (Matt. 4:9). But where David faltered, Jesus stood firm. He never compromised, never deceived, never allied Himself with the enemies of God. And yet, He willingly went to a battle He did not have to fight. He went to the cross, not as a compromised bodyguard, but as the perfect substitute. He stood in our place, taking the treasonous death we deserved.
God's providence rescued David from a battle. But God's providence sent Jesus into one. And because Jesus fought that battle and won, our deliverance is not a lucky escape based on the whims of pagan lords. It is an accomplished fact, secured by the blood of the covenant. God may deliver us from the consequences of our foolishness in this life, as He did for David. But in Christ, He has delivered us from the ultimate consequence of our sin for all eternity.