Valley of Elah

One of the most famous upsets of all time took place in the Valley of Elah: The Israelite shepherd boy David slew the Philistine warrior giant, Goliath.

Named after the shady terebinth (Hebrew, elah) trees that grow there, the Valley of Elah is located in Judea about 15 miles west of Bethlehem, where King David grew up. The prophet Samuel already had anointed young David to be the second king of Israel before David faced Goliath. God was finished with King Saul and made plans to replace him with a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).

David went to the Valley of Elah because his father, Jesse, sent him there with grain, bread, and cheese to check up on his older brothers who were fighting the Philistines. When David arrived, he learned all the soldiers were terrified of Goliath and fled from him. So, David offered to fight, even though he was a youth and Goliath was “a man of war from his youth” (17:33).

But David wasn’t afraid and told Saul how God had helped him kill a lion and a bear who came after his sheep; “and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God” (v. 36).

Armed with nothing but a slingshot, David took five smooth stones from the Brook of Elah and told Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts. . . . I will strike you and take your head from you” (vv. 45–46).

Then he revealed His motive: “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s” (vv. 46–47). The very first stone struck Goliath in the forehead. He crashed to the ground, and David cut off his head with the giant’s own sword.

David’s sole goal was to glorify God, and God honored that desire. Approximately 3,000 years have passed since the famous face-off in the Valley of Elah, but God’s ability to fight for His people has not diminished. The Valley of Elah reminds us, “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chr. 16:9).

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