There he stood in the valley of Elah (1 Sam. 17). The grassy plains swaying in the breeze as the day passed into evening. There were five smooth stones in his shepherd’s bag. He could feel the weight of the bag against his leg and the smooth wood of the staff in hand. In his right hand, he held the leather sling that he had practiced with since childhood. Before him stood a giant of a man taunting him. Perhaps young David thought, “Who do you think I am! I am a servant of the Most High God!”
There were a lot of events in David’s life that led up to this critical moment. In 1 Samuel 16:12-13, David was anointed by God. David also had a reputation. “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him” (1 Sam. 16:18). This reputation may have come from killing the wild beasts that came after his father’s sheep, the lion and the bear (1 Sam. 17:34-37).
We do not know why he was not in the army. We can assume that he was under the legal age of 20 (Num. 1:3) to be in military service. His father sends him to the front with food for his brothers and the captain of his brothers. There he learns of the tauntings of Goliath. After voicing his opinion and asking questions, he was taken before King Saul. Perhaps just hours after convincing Saul and trying on the king’s armor, he stood in the valley with Goliath. Armored with the conviction of faith he had in God and his familiar weapons, he ran headlong into mortal combat with the most feared warrior of the day and won.
Today, you may be standing in your own valley of Elah. You may be at a critical moment in your life where you must use the lessons learned by faith and trust in your conviction of God and who He is. Or, you may be currently learning those lessons and preparing for when the day comes that you must stand in that valley.
Whenever you find yourself in that moment, think on these things: “I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psa. 16:8). “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psa. 18:2) “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread” (Psa. 27:1)? “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” We need to have the courage to say, “Who do you think I am! I am a child of the most high God” (Rom. 8:31)!