1 Samuel 29– The Objections of the Philistine Princes
1 Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”
4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
“David was in a strait! To what a plight had eighteen months of deceit brought him! He had no alternative other than to follow King Achish to battle, but it must have been with a sinking heart. It looked as if he would be forced to fight Saul, the LORD’s s anointed, and Jonathan, his friend, and the people whom he was one day to rule.“ (F.B. Meyer)
But alas— “Then said the princes of the Philistines, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ They may have remembered, from an earlier campaign, that the Israelites in their own army had turned against them and helped to destroy them, 1Sa_14:21, or they may have been particularly suspicious of David.” (Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible)
“”The Philistine commanders, very naturally, were suspicious of these allies, just as Englishmen would have been if, the night before Waterloo, a brigade of Frenchmen had deserted and offered their help to fight, Napoleon. So the question, ‘What, do these Hebrews here?’—amongst our ranks—was an extremely natural one, and it was answered in the only possible way, by the subsequent departure of David and his men from the unnatural and ill-omened alliance. Now, that suggests to us that Christian people are out of their places, even in the eyes of worldly people, when they are fighting shoulder to shoulder with them in certain causes; and it suggests the propriety of keeping apart. ‘Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.’ ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ is a question that, Philistia often asks.” (Alexander Maclaren, D. D.) My path of duty is in the Church – spreading the Word of God and doing good deeds in the name of Jesus, not in civic clubs. If I speak that blessed Name, it would not be long before they say, “What is this fellow we doing here?”
“And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, ‘Is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel,’ thereby alluding to Saul's enmity toward him, ‘which hath been with me these days, or these years,’ our expression being ‘a year and a day,’ ‘and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?’ He had found nothing which would cause him to suspect his loyalty to the Philistine cause…” (Kretzmann's Popular Commentary) though his sojourn had been tainted with deception.
“‘But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him’; were unsatisfied and offended with Achish for this intention and declaration. So the princes of the Philistines said to him, ‘Make this fellow return,’ herein the wise and gracious providence of God appeared, both in helping him out of those snares and difficulties, out of which no human wit could have extricated him.” (Matthew Poole)—“‘that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him,’ to Ziklag, the place that Achish had given him for his residence, 1 Samuel 27:6; they did not desire to have him sent to his own country, and to Saul, since should a reconciliation be made between them, he would be of great service to Saul against them.” (Gill)—
“‘Lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men?’, thus they had no real view of Hebrew atonement. And then these lords “proceeded to use the same phrase Achish had used to defend David,
‘Is this not David?’— to impress on their gullible comrade what a danger David posed to them.— of whom they sang to one another etc., saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”— David had not only slain many of Israel’s enemies, including many Philistines, but he also enjoyed solidarity with Saul in the minds of all the people, which the song they quoted assumed.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
1 Samuel 29– Achish
6 Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7 Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8 So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9 Then Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now therefore, rise early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.”11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Herein is remarkable proof of the Hebrew / Christian saying that all things work together for good to those who love Yahweh and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
“There is some reason to think that Achish had actually embraced or was favourably disposed towards the Jewish religion. He speaks here of the angels of God, as a Jew might be expected to speak; and in 1 Samuel 29:6; he appeals to, and swears by Jehovah; which, perhaps, no Philistine ever did. It is possible that he might have learned many important truths from David, during the time he sojourned with him.” (Adam Clarke) Either way he was a remarkable. “Whilst Saul persecuted David, Achish protected him; and whilst the former, in the midst of Israel, ‘with the law’ of Moses, committed atrocious crime, and sank into heathen superstition, the latter, in the midst of heathenism, ‘without the law’ (Romans 2:11-16), exhibited much moral excellence, and approached the faith of Israel (1 Samuel 29:6). He may have profited in religious knowledge by his intercourse with David; on the other hand, his example was in some respects worthy of imitation by him. We must not attribute to him virtues which he did not possess; but we see in him a man much better than we might have expected to find from the disadvantages under which he lived... And ‘in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him’ (Acts 10:35).” (Pulpit Commentaries)
You may be rather surprised, "that Achish should have so little weight in his kingdom as not to be able to retain David in his service. But he should be told, that the Philistines were governed by five lords, and Gath was but one of their kingdoms. Ekron, Gaza, Ashdod, and Askelon, were the other four parts which these lords of the Philistines governed.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)”Though he himself fully approved of David personally and wanted him to accompany him to the battle, nevertheless the Philistine rulers were opposed to this (v.6). Therefore he asks David and his men to leave. David certainly had reason to be most thankful to God for this turn of events, but he did not want to give that impression to Achish. Deceitfully he protested, asking what he had done to disqualify him from going to ‘fight against the enemies of my lord the king’ (v.8). If Achish had known what David had done, he would have had a convincing answer! Notice that David does not expressly speak of fighting against the enemies of Achish, but against those of ‘my lord the king.’ Achish of course thought that David meant the former, but he did not know that David still considered Saul to be his lord the king.” (L. M. Grant)