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The Philistines Reject David
29 Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish, 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, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.” But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ Now then rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
(ESV)
1 Samuel 29 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Can you imagine David fighting against his friends and family? Can you imagine him going to war with his best friend, Jonathan?
Jesus speaks in Revelation to the church at Laodicea with strong, convicting words. This church isn’t as close as they should be, yet, they are just close enough to know right from wrong. They are lukewarm. Here in 1 Samuel 29, I think David has become lukewarm. He is close enough to the Philistines to be comfortable (and go to war on their side), but still close enough to God to know he’s in the wrong. It’s a terrible place to be.
But in His grace, God spares David the decision. The Philistines don’t trust him, and really, why should they? The truth is, David has been fighting Israel’s enemies and lying about it. Take a moment and think about the possible outcomes of this ordeal.
If David fights with the Philistines, he will be labeled a traitor for the rest of his days. His future reign as king of Israel will never happen. Not only that, but it is probable that if an encounter were to happen with Saul on the battlefield, David would have won, further extending the shame of his decisions. For all this time he had avoided taking matters with Saul into his own hands, but this kind of encounter would have forced him to either kill or be killed.
If David turns against the Philistines to fight with Israel, he will go against his word and betray the trust he has established with Achish. He would again be labeled a traitor and would forever be known by his treachery and deception. His honor would be lost.
Because David has become lukewarm, he now faces an impossible situation. But our God is the God of the impossible. Even though David doesn’t seem to cry out for help or even be remotely concerned with his circumstances, God was working. David caused this ordeal and the Lord graciously protected him.
I wonder how many of us are being unknowingly protected right now? I wonder how many times each of us has allowed a lukewarm state of mind to lure us into an impossible situation only to be rescued by the hand of God? We cannot only praise him for what we know but also what we do not know, for we can rest assured that He has delivered us from the bloodshed of our future.
When things don’t go as planned, we often blame God for His lack of involvement instead of praising Him for His hand of protection. His grace is so much deeper than we know.