The Dilemma of Deceit

David’s web of lies threatens to entangle him when the Philistines begin to plot a major, united attack on Israel. Of course, Achish, the king of Gath, will be involved in this action, and he now decides that it is time for David to make some return for the protection and largess he has enjoyed in Gath and Ziklag. So Achish tells David that he is expecting him to go to battle with him against Israel. Now David is squarely between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he fights with Achish against Israel, he will alienate his own people and perhaps damage his chances of succeeding Saul as king. But if he refuses he risks the loss of Achish’s protection. He could find himself expelled from Philistia and back under the threat of Saul. All he can do at this point is to continue playing his game of deceit and hope for an opportunity to extract himself from this dilemma. So he gives Achish a vague answer—” ‘surely you know what your servant can do’ “—but the gullible king of Gath seems to take it as a pledge of eternal loyalty and promises to make David a captain in his personal guard.

At this point, the author of 1 Samuel shifts his focus away from David to show Saul’s reaction to this Philistine threat. For the sake of continuity, we will delay our consideration of Saul’s actions to learn the outcome of David’s dilemma, which is recorded in chapter 29.

The Philistines muster their armies at Aphek, and the troops march in review. David, still playing his game, marches with Achish’s men. But the Philistine princes are shocked when they catch sight of David’s force, and they demand to know why ” ‘Hebrews’ ” are marching with Philistines. In response, Achish gives an enthusiastic endorsement of David, explaining that this ” ‘Hebrew’ ” is none other than the great David, servant of Saul. He goes on to give his erroneous view that David has ” ‘defected’ ” to him and has proved himself to be a friend of the Philistines and an enemy of Israel. But the other princes of Philistia are not so trusting. They fear that David might turn on them during the battle in order to ingratiate himself to Saul. And so they angrily demand that Achish exclude David’s force from his ranks and send him back to Ziklag. Thus, David suddenly gets a reprieve from his dilemma—thanks to his reputation established through the little ditty the women of Israel sang after he struck down Goliath (18:7).