Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Samuel
Chapter 29: The Lords Favour Thee Not
David's long compromise in Gath has trapped him: he is marching out with the Philistines to fight against his own people. But God, unasked and unseen, works through the suspicion of the Philistine lords to send David home, rescuing him from a dilemma his own unbelief had made.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Samuel chapter 29. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 29 is a quiet display of God's providence, delivering His erring servant from a trap he had walked into himself. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Princes Distrust David (1 Samuel 29:1-5)
As the armies muster, the Philistine lords object to David's presence and demand that he be sent away.
What Do These Hebrews Here?
"Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 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. 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? 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? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?"
Word Study
"in the rereward," Hebrew ba-acharonah (בָּאַחֲרֹנָה), "in the rear, in the last place." David and his men marched "in the rereward with Achish", at the very back of the army, moving out to war against Israel. It is the picture of how far his compromise had carried him: the LORD's anointed, the future king of Israel, was tramping toward the battlefield in the ranks of the Philistines, poised to shed the blood of his own people, perhaps even of Jonathan. This is where a road begun in fear (chapter 27) had led. Sin has a momentum; a step aside becomes a march in the wrong direction, until the compromiser finds himself in a corner from which there is no honest escape. Had David fought, he would have branded himself a traitor to Israel forever; had he turned coat in the battle, he would have betrayed Achish. His own scheming had boxed him in. Only God could open a door, and God, in mercy, did.
Explanation
The two armies gather, Philistines at Aphek, Israel by the spring in Jezreel, and there, marching in the rear with Achish, is David with his six hundred men. His compromise has reached its crisis: he is about to go to war against his own nation. But the other Philistine lords are alarmed. "What do these Hebrews here?" they demand. Achish vouches warmly for David, calling him a faithful servant in whom he has found "no fault." But the princes will not be reassured. They rightly suspect that David might turn against them in the heat of battle to win back Saul's favor, and they recall the old victory song, "Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Their distrust, entirely natural and entirely of God, is the very means by which the LORD is about to rescue His servant from the impossible.
Gospel Focus
God's providence does not require our cooperation to work our good. David did not pray his way out of this trap, nor scheme his way out; he seems to have had no plan at all for the dilemma his compromise created. It was God who moved the hearts of pagan princes to distrust him and so send him home. "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD... he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 21:1), and so are the hearts of princes and enemies. Here is deep comfort for every believer who has, through weakness, wandered into a corner: the God who chastens His children also delivers them, often through means they never asked for and could never arrange. "The LORD knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9). This is not a reward for David's compromise, but the faithful mercy of a Father who will not let His straying child be destroyed. Grace pursues us even into our self-made snares.
David Dismissed From the Battle (1 Samuel 29:6-11)
Achish reluctantly sends David away, and God delivers His servant from fighting against Israel.
Return, and Go in Peace
"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. Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. 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? 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. 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. 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."
Word Study
"go in peace," Hebrew lek le-shalom (לֵךְ לְשָׁלוֹם), "go into peace, depart in well-being." Achish, though disappointed, sends David off with a blessing, "return, and go in peace." Unknown to the Philistine king, this dismissal is God's own hand opening the way of peace for David, sparing him from the guilt of raising his sword against Israel and his covenant-brother Jonathan. There is a heavy irony in David's reply, "But what have I done?", which continues the double-dealing of his Gath years, protesting loyalty to Achish while every reader knows his heart is with Israel. Even here, in the very moment of deliverance, David is still speaking the language of the far country. Yet God delivers him anyway. Achish's high praise, "as an angel of God," rings hollow from a pagan's lips over a man who has been living a lie; the true "peace" of the scene is not David's clean conscience but God's clean rescue. The LORD extricates His servant not because David's conduct deserved it, but because God's purpose for David could not fail.
Explanation
Achish breaks the news gently, praising David's conduct and swearing, ironically, "as the LORD liveth," that he has found no evil in him, but the other lords will not have him in the battle. So David must return home. David's response keeps up his cover to the last, protesting as though eager to fight "against the enemies of my lord the king", words that Achish takes as loyalty to himself, but which David, in his heart, may mean of Israel's true King. Achish reaffirms his trust ("as an angel of God") but insists David leave at first light. And so, at dawn, David and his men turn back toward Ziklag while the Philistines march north to Jezreel, to the battle of Gilboa where Saul will fall. God has, at the last possible moment, removed David from the field. He will not be present at Israel's defeat, will not lift a hand against Saul or Jonathan, and will be free of any charge of treason when he comes to the throne.
Gospel Focus
The chapter closes with David delivered, and the deliverance is wholly of God. The timing is exquisite: had the princes not objected, David would have been swept into the battle of Gilboa; instead he is turned back in time to face, and by grace to recover from, the crisis waiting for him at Ziklag (chapter 30). God's providences interlock for the good of His people, "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28), even the things that spring from our own failures. Yet let us not miss the honest edge of the story: David is rescued while still living a compromised life, still speaking half-truths to Achish. His deliverance is grace, not reward. That is precisely the gospel, God delivering the undeserving, working good even out of our wanderings, and pursuing His children with a mercy they cannot earn and do not merit. If God so keeps a straying David, how safe are those who trust the greater Son of David, who came not to be served but to save.
Chapter 29 in Review
1 Samuel 29 is a short, luminous study in providence. David's sixteen months of compromise in Philistia have carried him to the brink of disaster: he is marching out "in the rereward" with the Philistine army to fight against his own people. His scheming has boxed him into a corner from which there is no honest escape. Then God acts, not through David's prayers or plans, but through the suspicion of the Philistine princes, who distrust the famous Hebrew and demand that Achish send him home. Achish, though he vouches for David, must comply, and dismisses him "in peace." At dawn David turns back toward Ziklag while the Philistines march to Gilboa, and Saul's doom.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter shows the faithful mercy of God toward His erring servant. David did not deserve this rescue; he was still living the double life of the far country, still speaking half-truths to Achish. Yet God, whose purpose for David could not fail, moved the hearts of pagan princes to deliver him from raising his sword against Israel. "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD," and so is every heart. Grace pursues the straying child even into a self-made snare, working all things together for good, a comfort grounded not in our faithfulness but in His.
- Compromise has momentum; David's step aside in fear became a march to war against his own people.
- God delivered David through the suspicion of pagan princes, means he never asked for and could not arrange.
- "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD"; God turns even enemies' hearts for the good of His own.
- David's rescue was grace, not reward; God delivers the undeserving and works good out of our wanderings.
Questions for Reflection
- Has compromise ever carried you further than you meant to go? How did God open a way out?
- Can you see, in your own past, deliverances you never asked for and could never have arranged?
- What does it mean that God's mercy pursues us even in our self-made snares, as grace and not reward?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- David in the rereward; God delivers through pagan princes: 1 Samuel 29:1-5; Proverbs 21:1; 2 Peter 2:9.
- David sent home in peace; grace not reward; all things work together for good: 1 Samuel 29:6-11; Romans 8:28.