1 Samuel 29:1–11 The Philistines Reject David 

[Study Aired August 17, 2026]

The study for today captures how the Lord miraculously delivered David from joining the Philistines to fight against the people of Israel. In this study, we see David and his men marching at the rear of the Philistines to battle the people of Israel. However, the lords of the Philistines were against the idea of David and his men joining them to battle against their enemy Israel and therefore ordered Achish to let David and his men return. The Lord indeed delivers His elect from all that will disqualify us from obtaining the joy that is set before us. 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 

The Philistines March to Battle

1Sa 29:1  Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 

The Philistines gathering together to fight the people of Israel highlights our war against our flesh. These Philistines were neighbors to the people of Israel, which suggests that the people of Israel are constantly encountering the Philistines in their daily routines. This implies that this war against our flesh lasts a lifetime. 

Gal 5:17  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  

It is important to note that the Philistines were gathered together at Aphek which means ‘fortress’ (in the sense of strength). This shows the formidable opposition of our flesh which has rendered all men (except Jesus) to surrender to its dictates. It is only when we are in Christ that we are given power to overcome its influence after we have initially submitted to its power. 

Rev 13:4  And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” 

The fact that the Philistines were marching against the people of Israel is to let us know that this struggle against our flesh starts when we come to start our journey with Christ. The people of this world do not have any problem with their flesh. They refer to our flesh as human nature and do not see its opposition to the life of Christ in us. They think all human beings are dominated by their human nature. That is to say that nobody can win the war against our flesh.

In this review of the Books of Samuel, we initially encountered the Philistines, led by Goliath, coming out to fight the people of Israel. However, through David, the Israelites wrought a victory. However, the victory was not thorough. This is what is referred to in the Book of Revelation that the beast, which represents our flesh was dealt a deadly blow. However, the wound of the deadly blow was healed. As the Lord’s elect, our deadly wound was healed, thus, making the flesh stronger. Just as the Israelites have to battle the Philistines again and again, we, His elect, are in this war with our flesh for a lifetime.  

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.     

It is important to note that the Israelites pitched by a fountain which was in Jezreel, which means ‘God sows’. The fountain signifies the word of the Lord, and the Israelites being in Jezreel shows that it is the fire of the word of the Lord sown in our hearts and minds which is the weapon that destroys our flesh. This fire is the Lord’s judgment of our flesh. 

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 

As we shall see later, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines. This shows that the fountain here in verse 1 has a negative application. It suggests that when the word of the Lord is compromised by the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition, it loses it power to destroy our flesh, and therefore we become susceptible to its deeds. As a result, we lose the fight against our flesh. It is therefore imperative that we do not compromise the truth of the word of the Lord with false doctrines which rob us of the destruction power of the word of the Lord to destroy the flesh.

Mat 13:20  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 
Mat 13:21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 

1Sa 29:2  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 lords of the Philistines going to war by the hundreds and thousands of men is to demonstrate to us the fierce opposition of our flesh. Without Christ, there is no way that we can ever dream of winning the war against our flesh. 

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 
Rom 7:16  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
Rom 7:17  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 
Rom 7:18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 
Rom 7:19  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 
Rom 7:20  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (ESV)

David and his men passing on in the rear with Achish shows how the devil, represented by Achish, used us against the Lord’s elect, when we were under the dominion of our flesh at a certain stage of our walk with Christ. The fact that David and his men were at the rear implies that it is not obvious to us at that time that the devil was using us to fight against the Lord’s elect. All of us at a certain time of our walk have spoken evil against the Lord’s elect, thinking we were doing it for the Lord. 

Jas 4:11  Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Jas 4:12  There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? 

1Sa 29:3  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? 

When the commanders of the Philistines enquired about the presence of David and his men, Achish came to their aid as he tried to convince the Philistine lords of David’s faithfulness since being with him. This demonstrates how, as the Lord’s elect, we must have a good testimony as the Lord’s children before the people of this world.

1Pe 2:12  Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.  

1Ti 3:7  Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 

1Sa 29:4  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? 
1Sa 29:5  Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?  

At this point, we need to know the strait that David was in. Achish had been good to him, and therefore it was difficult for David to reject the request by Achish to join him in battle against the Israelites. On the other hand, he could not fight against the very people over whom the Lord had assured him rulership in a time to come.  As shown in verse 4, the Lord intervened on David’s behalf, through the insistence of the commanders of the Philistines, that David should leave. When we are at our wits’ end and do not know what to do, it is the Lord who intervenes to bring us to our safe haven.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

The Lord is indeed the ever-present help in time of trouble. Let us turn our attention from all that is weighing us down and drowning us in this sea of our flesh, and focus on Him. We shall not be disappointed.

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 
Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 
Psa 46:4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 
Psa 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

1Sa 29:6  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.
1Sa 29:7  Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. 

Again, Achish testified that he had not found evil in David during the period that David and his men settled in Gath. It implies that we must have a good testimony before the people of this world. 

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

1Ti 3:7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.    

In spite of Achish’s testimony about David, the lords of Philistines were not pleased with David and his men being in their midst. They therefore requested Achish to send David and his men home. It indicates that not everyone will be pleased with us. For example, Paul was maligned by his own people who saw him as a threat to their religion. In the same vein, the church system of this world is not pleased with us as they think that we pose a danger to their faith in Christ.

Act 24:5  For we have found this man [Paul] a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: 
Act 24:6  Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.  

The good news is that our persecution shows that we are blessed of the Lord. 

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.  

We must understand that the Philistines requiring David and his men to return to their estate was of the Lord, Who was delivering David and his men from committing the sin of fighting with the Philistines against the Lord’s people, Israel. In other words, it is the Lord who delivers us from our own flesh, from opposing our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Whenever we fight against each other or the leadership or show preference for one teacher against another, then it shows we are still of the flesh. This is because it is what every joint supplies which builds us up and not what one joint supplies, as we see in the churches of this world. 

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 
1Co 3:5  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

1Sa 29:8  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? 

David wondering why the lords of the Philistines have excluded him and his men from taking on the people of Israel, who were the enemies of Achish was just to convince Achish of his devotion to him. This is because during their stay in Ziklag, David and his men raided many of the surrounding towns and villages, but they did not hurt any of the people of Israel. As the Lord’s elect, we are not to hurt any of our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world, although some of them may be hostile to us.  

1Sa 27:8  And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
1Sa 27:9  And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
1Sa 27:10  And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

1Sa 29:9  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. 

It is also important to note that Achish referred to David here in verse 9, as an angel of God. We, His elect, are angels of God to the heathen and our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. The people of this world are not aware that we are the ones that they are waiting for to be revealed as the sons of God. 

Rom 8:19  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 
Rom 8:21  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 

Oba 1:21  Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. 

1Sa 29:10  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.” 
1Sa 29:11  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.   

Starting their journey back to their home in the land of the Philistines early, as soon as there was light, signifies that although we are the Lord’s elect, our early walk with the Lord was characterized by being under the dominion of our flesh. That is another way of saying that we were marred in the hand of the Lord, and so he is making us into another vessel as it seems good to Him. 

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

In verse 1 of this study, the Philistines were stationed at Aphek. However, here in verse 11, they were moving to Jezreel, where the Israelites, who represent the church system of this world, were situated. It signifies how the church system of this world has gradually been overwhelmed by the flesh. As a result, the great swelling words of vanity from the flesh make our brothers and sisters in Babylon worse off. This was our situation when we were with them in Babylon. 

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.  

We thank the Lord for His mercies towards us in this age. Amen!