1 Samuel · chapter 29 of 31
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1 Samuel 29 tells how the Philistines gather at Aphek to fight Israel, and David and his men march in the rear with Achish. The Philistine rulers object to having Hebrews with them, because they fear David will turn against them in battle. Achish, though he trusts David, sends him away, and David returns to Ziklag without having to fight Israel.
Chapter 27 left David in an awkward position: he had deceived Achish, and Achish was counting on him to fight Israel. In chapter 28 the Philistines prepare to attack. Chapter 29 shows how the Lord brings David out of that dilemma through the distrust of the Philistine rulers, without David having to choose between betraying Achish or fighting his own people.
The Philistines gather all their forces at Aphek, while Israel camps by the spring that is in Jezreel. The Philistine rulers pass in review with their companies of hundreds and thousands, and David and his men pass on in the rear with Achish.
The Philistine commanders ask what these Hebrews are doing there. Achish answers that this is David, the servant of Saul, who has been with him for a long time and in whom he has found no fault from the day he came to him until now. But the commanders are angry with Achish and demand that he send David back to the place he assigned him, so that he does not go with them to battle and become their adversary. How could he reconcile himself to his lord except with the heads of their men? They recall that this is the David of whom they sang that Saul had struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands.
Achish calls David and tells him that, as the Lord lives, he has been upright and it would please him for David to go out with him, but the rulers do not approve. He asks him to return in peace and not displease the rulers. David protests: what has he done, and why can he not fight against the enemies of his lord the king? Achish answers that he knows he is as blameless in his sight as an angel of God, but the commanders have said he shall not go up with them. He tells him to rise early with the servants of his lord, and as soon as it is light, depart.
David and his men rise early to return to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines go up to Jezreel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Philistine commanders ask what these Hebrews are doing there, and Achish defends David by saying he has found no fault in him. David's deception before Achish seems to work, but the commanders are not persuaded.
The Philistine commanders recall the song about David and his ten thousands. Their distrust, which they think prudent, is the means the Lord uses to spare David from fighting his own people.
Achish swears by the Lord that David has been upright before him, though not in the eyes of the commanders. A Philistine king testifies to David's apparent integrity, while a deception the reader knows about continues.
Achish says David is blameless in his sight as an angel of God. The praise of a pagan contrasts with the commanders' doubts and shows how much David had won his trust.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: At Aphek. — 1 Samuel 29:1
Answer: In the rear, with Achish. — 1 Samuel 29:2
Answer: That he might turn against them in battle, and they demanded that Achish send him back. — 1 Samuel 29:3-4
Answer: The one that said Saul had struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. — 1 Samuel 29:5
Answer: As blameless in his sight, like an angel of God. — 1 Samuel 29:9
Answer: To the land of the Philistines, to Ziklag, while the Philistines went up to Jezreel. — 1 Samuel 29:11
God can free us from impossible situations in ways we do not expect, sometimes through people who do not share our faith. David was trapped between two loyalties, and the Lord brought him out without his having to break either. In a small group you can talk about times when a closed door turned out to be a protection.
But the chapter also warns us against testing God's patience with ambiguous compromises. David is spared, not through his prudence but through God's grace. It is an invitation to live transparently and to seek the Lord before placing ourselves in situations where we are forced to choose between two evils.
1 Samuel 29 leaves David free of the battle of Jezreel and on his way to Ziklag. In chapter 30 he will discover that the Amalekites have plundered the city and taken his family, and he will have to strengthen himself in the Lord.
The text does not make it clear. David protests to Achish that he wants to fight the enemies of his lord, but his true loyalty is to Israel. The chapter shows that the Lord spares him from having to resolve that dilemma, and the narrative focuses on that providence.
Achish, a Philistine king, uses the Lord's name when speaking to David, probably out of consideration for David, who was an Israelite. The text does not say that Achish worshiped the God of Israel; his oath here is part of the language he uses in addressing David.