1 Samuel 29
1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?
4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not.
7 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.
8 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
10 Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.
11 So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Common Questions About 1 Samuel 29
What happens to David as the Philistines prepare for battle in chapter 29?
As the Philistine army gathers to fight Israel, the Philistine commanders, unlike Achish, don't trust David and insist he be sent back rather than fight alongside them against his own people, questioning what better way David could prove loyalty to his own former master Saul than by turning on them in battle.
How does this outcome benefit David?
Though David protests being dismissed, this rejection actually spares him from the impossible position of having to fight against his own people Israel, providentially removing him from the battle where Saul and Jonathan will soon die, without David having to make that agonizing choice himself.
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Questions to Think About
- God worked through other people's suspicion and rejection to protect David from an impossible moral situation. How might a rejection or setback you've experienced actually be God's protection from a worse situation you couldn't yet see?
- David found himself in a genuinely difficult moral position due to his earlier choice to align with the Philistines. Where might an earlier compromise be creating a difficult moral position you now need wisdom to navigate?
Ask the Bible Chat Bot below if you'd like to talk through any of these.
