I Chronicles 18:8 …brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass
I admire people who do not quit. Don’t you? I admire people who have a goal or plan and stick with it until they see it through. As we often say, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” That may be true. The question I have is, “Is there ever a time to quit? Is there ever a goal or plan to quit?” We might instinctively say that there is not, but are there not bad things that we do that we ought to quit? If I am doing something that is destroying my health, isn’t that something I ought to quit or stop? If I am driving toward the edge of the cliff, I probably should put my foot on the break and not the gasoline. Someone says, “What if it is not a bad thing that you are quitting?” Well, are there ever times that a good thing ought to be quit?
In I Chronicles 18 we find the story of what David did after God told him that he was not to go ahead with his noble ambition to build a temple for God. He said, “David, you are not the man to do this. Your son Solomon will do this.” Verse 1 says, “Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them.” What follows are a number of battles and victories and all that came of them. The Bible says that David took shields of gold, vessels of brass, and a number of other things. The upshot of all that is that Solomon used those things to make the things that were put into the temple. David’s battles prepared the way for Solomon’s building. There could not be one without the other.
So, is there ever a time to quit? The answer is yes. When should we quit? I think what we learn from David is just to be what God made you. There are three actions in particular. First, listen. I Chronicles 17:3-4 says, “And it came to pass the same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant…Thou shalt not to build me an house.” David had to listen. He was king and used to giving commands, but David was also very submissive and accustomed to submitting to God’s guidance in his life. Now, God is not going to give you an audible voice, but if you are listening, there are going to be times that you stop doing what you are doing in response to God.
Second, pivot. David certainly did this. In I Chronicles 17:16 David said to God, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” David had a submissive heart. In verse 18 David said, “For thou knowest thy servant.” God knew David better than he knew himself. God knows you and He made you for a reason. So, be what God made you. Listen, and then there may be times when you have to pivot. There are times you may be headed one direction, then God gives clear guidance, and it is time to pivot. Obviously, guidance is mandated by God’s moral will, what you know to be right or wrong. I think it is indicated by the gifts and opportunities God gives you and it is helped by an attitude that is both willing to do whatever God wants and obedient in the things you know to be right, right now. Listen to God. Pivot when its time.
Then, surge. David rolled forward and did what he was made to do. The Bible says twice in chapter 18 that the LORD preserved David. Verse 6 says, “Thus the LORD preserved David whitherseover he went.” That is twice the end of the Bible’s accounting of David’s battles, that the Lord preserved him. What did David do? David reigned. Verse 14 says, “And David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.” The Lord preserved and David reigned. Then verse 8 says, “Wherewith Solomon made.” The magnificent temple that Solomon built was God’s plan with God’s man.
So, whatever you are doing today, make sure that you are listening to God, willing to pivot when God gives guidance, and willing to give all your energies to what God would have you to. Be what God made you.