Wisdom for the Heart

Dancing Before the Grim Reaper

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What if the path to real courage runs straight through the truth we most avoid—our own mortality? We open Ecclesiastes 9 and find not despair but a daring invitation: live fully under God’s hand, receive simple gifts with gratitude, cherish your closest relationships, and throw your whole heart into the work before you.

We start by reframing control. Your deeds are in the hand of God—not erased, not micromanaged, but dignified within His sovereign care. That clarity quiets the frantic need to prove yourself and frees you to pursue excellence with integrity. From there, we face Solomon’s blunt claim that the same event—death—comes to everyone. Denial breeds bravado; wisdom breeds joy. When you accept the appointment, you stop numbing out and start paying attention to the meal on your table, the laughter in your home, and the purpose in your craft.

Then come the imperatives: go, eat, drink, rejoice, love, and work. We talk about why bread and wine, clean clothes and oil, become symbols of defiant hope; how enjoying life with the spouse you love builds a resilient heart; and why “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” is a daily rule for vocation, service, and creativity. Along the way, we explore how ordinary delights act as appetizers of heaven—small foretastes of a world beyond the curse where feasting, relationship, and meaningful service never end.

If you’re ready to trade anxious striving for joyful obedience, and vague optimism for concrete practices, this conversation will meet you where you live—at the table, in your marriage, at your desk, and in your neighborhood. Listen now, subscribe for more wisdom woven from Scripture, and share this episode with someone who needs courage to savor today. And if it helped you, leave a review so others can find it too.

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Sometimes God gives you glimpses of what life in heaven will be like.

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You know what you're doing in life? With that simple meal, the joy of your spouse and home and family, the excellence with which you take up whatever the task is. You are actually tasting. You are preparing for, you are you are sampling an appetizer. You're getting a glimpse of life beyond the curse. Life beyond the grave.

SPEAKER_01:

In this episode of Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davy invites you to face life and death with courage and joy. Solomon's message in Ecclesiastes 9 is bold. Your days are limited, but they're not meaningless. God is in control of your beginning and your end. And that truth frees you to enjoy every part of the life He's given you. Whether it's a simple meal, a meaningful relationship, or the work of your hands, this passage calls you to live fully and faithfully. Without fear of the grave. Here's Stephen.

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The headline of newspaper articles around the country published the news that Coleman Mockler Jr. died unexpectedly at the age of 61. Even though he was a household name when he died just 30 years ago, you probably have never heard of him. A graduate of Harvard with an MBA, became the treasurer of a company that had been founded in 1901 making razor blades called the Gillette Company. His rise in that corporate world was meteoric. Within two years, he was the vice president, then the senior vice president, and then the executive vice president. And then within nine years of being hired, he was the chairman of the board and the CEO. He would take this company into a global presence. Under his leadership, the stock value of Gillette increased 50-fold. He was celebrated in the business world, quoted as a guru of business management. He would go on to earn millions in salary and on Wall Street. Then at the age of 61, he announced his early retirement. He was going to step down, so to speak, while he was ahead. He would bask for the rest of his life in the glow of his successes. Forbes magazine put him on the cover of their next issue, published with his picture. I've seen a copy of that magazine cover. He's shown holding a razor in his hand with confidence written all over his face. That magazine edition was going to hit the newsstands in one week, but Forbes decided to send him an advanced copy to enjoy. When it was delivered to corporate headquarters, his office staff and all the executives stood and clapped and whistled as he carried the magazine back to his office to read. In many ways, this was the best day of his life. He had no idea it would be his last. With his staff applauding, he stepped into his office, shut the door, had a massive heart attack, and crumpled to the floor. He was gone. When the medics arrived to carry him out, he was still clutching that Forbes magazine with his photo on the cover in his hand. A magazine issue that now seemed terribly and ironically one week too late. Since Solomon is now in his old age, most of his powerful spirit control advice has come at the end of his life, at his retirement, so to speak, which is now in view. In chapter 9, where we pick it up again of Ecclesiastes, he begins reminiscing on two of his most favorite subjects, life and death. Solomon essentially says, Let's talk about your deeds. They are a reminder of God's authority. And with that he begins chapter 9 and verse 1. Notice. But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know, both are before him. In other words, Solomon is going to leave it to God to judge his deeds and determine what was commendable and what was worthless, what was worth loving and what was worth discarding. Now, what Solomon highlights here for us is a reminder that all of our deeds are, notice again, in the hand of God. In the hand of God. Now that doesn't mean we're puppets. That doesn't mean we're on strings. God is the puppeteer. It doesn't mean we're not responsible for our actions and our deeds. We are. But God has woven our actions, good and bad, into his purposes so that everything works out according to his divine plan. Nobody throws a monkey wrench into God's purposes. I guess you could say that what Solomon is saying is that God really does have the whole world in his hands. Keep in mind that those hands are now nail-scarred. The world he created crucified him. They washed their hands of him. But the sovereign Lord, make no mistake, who created the world and loves the world and was rejected by the world is still in charge of the world. Here's the good news for the believer: the Savior who called you and redeemed you is capable of taking care of you. He will never wash his hands of you. He will never walk out on you. Solomon says, let's talk about our deeds. They are a reminder of God's authority. His hand. Secondly, now let's talk about your death. It's a reminder of God's appointment. Notice verse 2. In the same, or it is the same for all, since the same event, mark that, the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, that is ceremonially religiously clean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice, those who come to the temple regularly and those who, you know, never show up. As the good one is, so is the sinner. And he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event, here he goes again, happens to all. All die. And just in case we don't think we deserve to die, he adds in verse 3 the hearts of the children of man, that is the human race, are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. We're in need of a savior. The Bible says there is none righteous. No, not one, Romans 3.10. For all have sinned and what? Fall short of the glory of God. That's heaven. Romans 3.23. And just in case you're not convinced you're a sinner in the company of the ones Solomon's referring to, keep in mind that the penalty for sin is an appointment with death. The Bible also says it is appointed unto man once to die. You don't think you're a sinner? Are you gonna die? You're gonna die because you're a sinner. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Romans 6.23. The paycheck for being a sinner, the payout, the wages you earn. Go ahead and open that envelope. It has one word stamped on it for us all, and it reads, D-E-A-T-H. Solomon writes here in his journal, I've laid this to heart. I've meditated on this. I've examined this. I'm admitting the truth of this. There is this one event that's deserved by all. And no one can avoid it. The good person experiences it and the evil person, the religious person and the atheist, the guy who never curses and the and the man who can't stop swearing. Morality does not protect you from mortality. But people don't want to talk about it. People don't want to talk about death out there. Because they'd like to believe it's never really gonna happen. Death is unthinkable. Beloved, death is not unthinkable. It is inevitable. Is it interesting that Solomon, as he nears the end of his life, keeps coming back to this? This is not the first time he's talked about it. Some of his parting advice to his son is going to ignore it, and to us will we is the truth about life and death. Now, what Solomon does here next is he adds two elements that reveal why the unbeliever doesn't really want to talk about it. First, because they know deep down, they know they aren't truly confident about life beyond the grave. Notice what he says here in verse 4. But he who's joined with all the living has hope. That word hope can be translated confidence. In other words, as long as you're alive and you're only thinking about living, you don't want to let your mind wander into the subject of dying. You get this sense of confidence. This bravado out there. In fact, everyone knows Solomon goes on to say in the last part of this verse that a living dog is better than a dead lion. What does that mean? Well, dog in ancient days wasn't a household pet like we have today. It was a mangy scavenger, unwanted. In fact, for those of you that are older in the faith, you've probably picked up on the fact that throughout the Bible, dogs are used symbolically of evildoers, sinful people. In fact, all the way to the last reference, which happens to be the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, John writes that the dogs, the evil unrepentant, the dogs, will not be allowed into heaven. I know you cat people are loving this right now. This is hard for me to teach, but it's the truth. They're a metaphor for wicked people. The lion was all the way back in Genesis, linked to the royal lion of the house of Judah in Genesis chapter 49. The lion becomes the emblem of the Messiah. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. So what Solomon is saying here is that it's better to be a wicked sinner who's alive than a noble lion who's dead. Because no matter how brave you might want to be, you'd rather be anything but dead. The unbeliever, if you have conversations, and I hope you do, because you're to be the gospel light out there, you'll find that they will admit they're troubled. They aren't confident about life. All the while they'll deny, they'll suppress the truth God implanted in their hearts that there is a creator. They want to deny him and they want to deny any thought of death. Now, not only do unbelievers realize that are not confident about life beyond the grave, there's a second thing he mentions here. They realize they won't be remembered after they've gone to the grave. Notice what he writes in verse 5, for the living know that they will die. They know in their heart of hearts they're gonna die. But the dead know nothing, they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Generally speaking, this is absolutely true. Out of sight and out of mind. Your family certainly will remember you, but the community at large, your world at large, Solomon is the richest, most famous, wisest man on the planet, and he says, don't count on it. Now you might expect Solomon to follow all this depressing reality up by telling you, go find a quiet place, go find it, you know, find a room somewhere. Be as quiet as you can, enjoy as much as you can, and die. But he doesn't. What he really tells us to do is to get ready to live. Let's talk about your deeds. They are under God's authority, let's talk about your death. It's according to God's appointment. Now, thirdly, let's talk about your direction. It's a reminder of God's approval. The next verse gives you a series, by the way, of imperative verbs. You could put exclamation points over and over again in this last section. It begins with the word go. You could translate it, come on. You could translate it, get going. You could translate it, let's go. You'd think after all that he said, he'd say, Oh man, let's just quit. He gets to the end of that, and he says, now let's go. Let's get on with it. And here's his first imperative in the list. We'll put it this way in principle form. Go on and enjoy the simple things in life. Look at verse 7. Go, eat your bread with joy, drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. For the believer, this is wonderful news. You're not living, we sang it, you're not living under condemnation. No condemnation now I dread. You're free to live and free to enjoy the simplest gifts of life. I love the fact that Solomon doesn't say here that what you need to really enjoy life is a palace and a lot of gold and really fast horses out there in the pasture and a lot of building projects and parks and all of that. No, he says, what you need to do to get on with living is just start with a good meal. In fact, notice even the meal, it isn't really all that fancy. It's bread and wine. That's something they eat great. Go for it. Enjoy it. He talks about your wardrobe next in verse 8. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. This is a metaphor for rejoicing. White garments are the garments of the wedding and the festival and the reunion. They represented joy. Go on and enjoy the simple things of life. Secondly, go on and enjoy your relationships in life. Look at verse 9. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting, quick life that He has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Enjoy that relationship. Enjoy your wife. I don't know about you, but this COVID thing has given me a lot more time at home. Especially in the early months. I was able to spend more time with my wife than she ever wanted. I mean dreamed. No traveling to meeting, just Zoom. On at 8:30, off at 9.30. All that time, you know, captured. We've had a blast. She's taught me how to play Yahtzee and Rummy Cube. The only way I can beat her is to cheat. I'm kidding. Settle down here, sort of. But she won't let me keep score. Now Solomon doesn't write here. I want you to notice this. Live with your wife, put up with your wife. No, he he says something much more profound. Enjoy life with your wife. You're not using her, you're enjoying life with her. And isn't it interesting, did you notice, that the man who had 700 wives comes to the end of his life and changes everything with a stroke of his inspired pen from the plural to the singular. He had forfeited throughout life a loving relationship with a wife for multiple wives and concubines. And now as an old man, it's almost as if Solomon is as much as admitting that he finally knows better. This advice could be broadened, of course, in application to include children and parents and grandparents, extended family. This is how to enjoy life. Let's go for it. Make the most of your relationships. You're not ignoring, by the way, the reality of the grim reaper. You're not trying to avoid the reality of the grim reaper. You're effectively dancing before the grim reaper. In spite of the grim reaper. Even though you know the grim reaper's coming, it's the appointment of God, though. You understand that no longer, under condemnation, you can learn to dance before him. You're in a festival mood. You are seizing life as God unfolds it with an attitude. The New Testament, by the way, correspondingly encourages to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, say with me, and again I say, rejoice. That means put on the festival garb every day. You're not denying the difficulties of life. You're just choosing to make the most of life. That's what Solomon is saying. Go on and enjoy the simple things in life. Go on and enjoy the relationships you have in life. One more. Go on and enjoy every facet of life. Now, in case you think Solomon is leaving something out, he writes in verse 10. Whatever. Circle that word in your Bible. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there's no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol that is the grave to which you are going. Now he's not in this text trying to deny the afterlife. He's simply emphasizing that we need to maximize the potential of life. And I love that first word, that inclusive word. Whatever. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. When God made all that is creative and lovely and imaginative and glorious, and he came to the end of it, and Genesis 1 gives the summation of the triune God in verse 31. Behold, look, it is very good. Yes, sin mars it, but there's much to be enjoyed. Whatever it is of God's world, whatever your hand finds to do is so long as it doesn't violate a command or character of God. Enjoy whatever your hand finds to do. Enjoy whatever. One of my commentators in my study said, you know what that means? It means go ride a bike. Go visit the Grand Canyon. Learn a musical instrument. Visit the sick, cook a meal for the hungry, read a book, laugh with friends, run a marathon, call your parents, play with your kids, write a letter, travel to somewhere you've never been before. Get on with it. Thought it was interesting. Dio Moody, writing more than a hundred years ago, caught the sense of Solomon's command correctly when he wrote this. I believe the religion of Christ engages the whole person. Why shouldn't a Christian play tennis? Don't imagine, he writes, that you have to go live in a cave to be consecrated. Whatever you take up, take it up with all your heart. You know what you're doing in life with that simple meal? The joy of your spouse and home and family, the excellence with which you take up whatever the task is. You are actually tasting, you are preparing for, you are, you are sampling an appetizer, you're getting a glimpse of life beyond the curse, life beyond the grave, where you will feast at the marriage, supper of the Lamb, and you will enjoy the fruit of the orchards that grow along Main Street in the Father's house bearing fruit every 30 days. This is where you will have relationships with the entire family of the redeemed, enjoy to the fullest, where we will serve with everything we are and everything we have, our Redeemer, where we will live, in a sense, with uninhibited dancing and unimaginable triumph and unspeakable glory and grace that we cannot yet imagine, but we get a sample, we get a taste down here. So go on, learn to dance before the grim reaper, savor, enjoy, taste, serve love. And then at God's appointed time, you will wean your way to that city where the dancing and the feasting and the loving and the serving and the thanking and the worshiping will go on and on and on with uninterrupted eternal joy. So enjoy lunch today. I recommend not just bread, but a lot of butter.

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What a great reminder today. Thanks for joining us here on Wisdom for the Heart. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davy, and you can learn more about us if you visit our website, which is wisdomonline.org. Before we close today's episode, I want to invite you to take advantage of something that will help you stay connected and keep growing spiritually. It's called Friends of Wisdom, and it's completely free. When you sign up, you'll start receiving a weekly email from Stephen filled with biblical insights, practical wisdom, and answers to real-life questions from listeners just like you. As a friend of wisdom, you'll also receive a free resource each month, carefully chosen, to strengthen your walk with Christ. And when you join, we'll send you two of Stephen's most popular booklets right away. Blessed Assurance and The Coming Tribulation. It's easy to join. Just visit wisdomonline.org forward slash friends. Fill out a short form, and you'll start receiving these valuable resources. It's wisdomonline.org forward slash friends. Sign up today and start growing in wisdom. Be with us for our next Bible message here on Wisdom for the Heart.