1 Samuel 29:6

6 So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as the Lord lives, you are loyal. I would be pleased to have you serve in my army. Since the day you came to me, I have found no wrong in you. But the other kings don't trust you.

1 Samuel 29:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 29:6

Then Achish called David
Being so near him, that he could call unto him himself, or he sent some person to him, to require his presence with him:

and said unto him, surely, [as] the Lord liveth;
or "Jehovah liveth"; an oath by the true God, of whom Achish might have some knowledge, as he also had of angels, from his conversation with David; though the Heathens had a notion of a supreme Being, and yet worshipped other gods, and whom they called Jove, from this name of Jehovah. Kimchi observes, that all confess a first cause; and therefore when he swore to David, he swore by him in whom David believed, perhaps out of complaisance to him, or that David might pay the greater regard to his oath:

thou hast been upright;
sincere, honest, faithful, and just in all his deportment; yet not so sincere as he thought him to be, witness the road he pretended he had taken against the south of Judah, ( 1 Samuel 27:1-12 ) ;

and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host [is] good in
sight;
his behaviour in the army, attending him as the keeper of his head, or captain of his bodyguard, was exceeding agreeable to him, and he could wish to have him continued:

for I have not found evil in thee, since the day of thy coming unto me
unto this day;
whatever he had done before to the Philistines, having greatly afflicted and distressed them in his wars with them, of which this seems to be an exception:

nevertheless, the lords favour thee not;
or thou art not acceptable to them, yea, very offensive and disagreeable.

1 Samuel 29:6 In-Context

4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, "Send David back to the city you gave him. He cannot go with us into battle. If he does, we'll have an enemy in our own camp. He could please his king by killing our own men.
5 David is the one the Israelites dance and sing about, saying: 'Saul has killed thousands of his enemies, but David has killed tens of thousands.'"
6 So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as the Lord lives, you are loyal. I would be pleased to have you serve in my army. Since the day you came to me, I have found no wrong in you. But the other kings don't trust you.
7 Go back in peace. Don't do anything to displease the Philistine kings."
8 David asked, "What wrong have I done? What evil have you found in me from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go fight your enemies, my lord and king?"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.