I Samuel 29:1-11
Last week we looked at I Samuel 27 and saw David’s
faltering faith. He doubted that God would continue
taking care of him and attempted to take matters into his
own hands by fleeing to the land of the Philistines. He
deceived Achish the king of Gath and alluded that he
would fight for him against his own people.
Before we get to our text for today we need to briefly
discuss chapter 28. Saul had removed all of the
necromancers from the land, but realized that the Lord
was no longer answering him. So he got his servants to
go find him a medium so he could inquire of her.
The medium asks who he wants to speak with and Saul
asks to speak to Samuel, who had recently passed away.
Once the medium contacted Samuel, he delivered some
disturbing news to Saul. Tomorrow Saul would fall at the
hands of the Philistines.
Now, at the beginning of chapter 28 Achish asked David
to fight for him and David responded with the cryptic
phrase “you shall know what your servant can do”. In
response to that Achish made David his bodyguard for
life.
Let’s take a moment to ask God to speak to us through
His word and to open our hearts to His message this
morning.
I Samuel 29:1-5
Philistine Commanders Suspicion of David
Question – what are these Hebrews doing here?
They Learned from Experience
Back in I Samuel 14 we read of a similar situation where
some Israelites were with the Philistines.
I Samuel 14:12-14 “And the men of the garrison
hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said,
“Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And
Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after
me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of
Israel.” Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and
feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell
before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them
after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and
his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men
within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of
land.”
And listen to how things turned out
I Samuel 14:20-21 “Then Saul and all the people
who were with him rallied and went into the battle.
And behold, every Philistine’s sword was against
his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
Now the Hebrews who had been with the
Philistines before that time and who had gone up
with them into the camp, even they also turned to
be with the Israelites who were with Saul and
Jonathan.”
The Hebrews that were with the Philistines turned their
allegiance back to Israel even in the heat of the battle.
The commanders do not want to take any chances of that
happening again this time. He must be sent away; he
cannot go into battle with us.
Another question – isn’t this the David the people sang
about?
They Remembered David’s Reputation
Saul has struck down his thousands,
David his ten thousands.
They realized that both Saul and David had defeated
Philistines.
David had even taken the head of the giant from Gath.
Despite what David may have told Achish, the
commanders do not trust him.
It’s interesting that the commanders don’t seem to
respect the opinion of the king. They basically tell him
what he is going to do. They advise the king to send
David away lest he turn against them.
Achish’s Loyalty to David
Achish has been duped by David this whole time. Notice
how he defended him in verse 3. “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.”
Found no Fault in David
Isn’t it funny how both the king and the commanders
begin their question with the same phrase. Is this not
David?
The commanders suspect that David has been pulling the
wool over the king’s eyes. The king suspects nothing
from his seemingly loyal bodyguard.
Situations like these require discernment.
The king didn’t have good discernment.
The commanders were suspicious for a good reason.
David had no intention of fighting for the Philistines.
He would fight for the Lord!!
Before we read the rest of the chapter, consider how God
is provident in how this situation played out.
As we know from chapter 28 the battle between Israel
and the Philistines is going to be the battle that ends
Saul’s life. David isn’t even going to be on the battlefield.
He will have nothing to do with Saul’s death.
David doesn’t know this yet though.
He is still determining if he will lose trust with Achish or
lose his righteousness towards his people.
Now, let’s take a look at our remaining verses.
I Samuel 29:6-11
Achish continues his loyalty to David
In verse six Achish stands by his loyalty to David as he
tells him the commanders will not allow him to fight with
them.
He calls David honest and tells him it seems right that
he would fight with him.
He also says he has found no wrong in David.
But because of the commanders he is going to have to
ask David to return to Ziklag.
It must have been difficult for David to object to having
to go fight against his own king Saul. David had already
spared his life twice. He has made it clear that he had no
intention of laying a hand on the Lord’s anointed.
Nevertheless, David asks what he has done to Achish
that he would not allow him to go fight with him.
Achish defends David one final time in verse 9.
He calls David as blameless as an angel of God.
Despite Achish’s feelings toward David, he deferred to his
commanders and told David to leave early in the morning
and take all of his men with him. They were not welcome
to fight this battle.
So the Lord provided an out for David.
He didn’t have to pretend to fight against his own people
or turn against the king who had given him safe passage
for the past year and 4 months.
APPLICATION
As we consider the message of this chapter, we must not
come away thinking that it is ok to deceive others for our
own protection.
This chapter has two takeaways
Be Discerning – people we interact with are not always
forthright. We must use discernment when dealing with
them. If we don’t have the best discernment, it’s good to
run our situations by those we know to have good
discernment. They will be able to help us see the truth
about others.
Seek God’s Will – sometimes in life we get into difficult
situations. The Scripture promises that He works all
things for the good of those who love Him and are called
according to His purpose.
Therefore, we ought to be seeking His wisdom and
guidance in every situation. We never know how God is
going to show Himself when we need Him most.