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.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
Episode Transcript
Sometimes God gives you glimpses of what life in
heaven will be like.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
You know what you're doing in life?
With that simple meal, the joyof your spouse and home and
family, the excellence withwhich you take up whatever the
task is.
You are actually tasting.
You are preparing for, you areyou are sampling an appetizer.
(00:34):
You're getting a glimpse of lifebeyond the curse.
Life beyond the grave.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
In this episode of Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen
Davy invites you to face lifeand death with courage and joy.
Solomon's message inEcclesiastes 9 is bold.
Your days are limited, butthey're not meaningless.
God is in control of yourbeginning and your end.
(01:18):
And that truth frees you toenjoy every part of the life
He's given you.
Whether it's a simple meal, ameaningful relationship, or the
work of your hands, this passagecalls you to live fully and
faithfully.
Without fear of the grave.
Here's Stephen.
SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
The headline of newspaper articles around the
country published the news thatColeman Mockler Jr.
died unexpectedly at the age of61.
Even though he was a householdname when he died just 30 years
(02:00):
ago, you probably have neverheard of him.
A graduate of Harvard with anMBA, became the treasurer of a
company that had been founded in1901 making razor blades called
the Gillette Company.
His rise in that corporate worldwas meteoric.
(02:24):
Within two years, he was thevice president, then the senior
vice president, and then theexecutive vice president.
And then within nine years ofbeing hired, he was the chairman
of the board and the CEO.
He would take this company intoa global presence.
Under his leadership, the stockvalue of Gillette increased
(02:49):
50-fold.
He was celebrated in thebusiness world, quoted as a guru
of business management.
He would go on to earn millionsin salary and on Wall Street.
Then at the age of 61, heannounced his early retirement.
(03:09):
He was going to step down, so tospeak, while he was ahead.
He would bask for the rest ofhis life in the glow of his
successes.
Forbes magazine put him on thecover of their next issue,
published with his picture.
I've seen a copy of thatmagazine cover.
(03:30):
He's shown holding a razor inhis hand with confidence written
all over his face.
That magazine edition was goingto hit the newsstands in one
week, but Forbes decided to sendhim an advanced copy to enjoy.
When it was delivered tocorporate headquarters, his
(03:53):
office staff and all theexecutives stood and clapped and
whistled as he carried themagazine back to his office to
read.
In many ways, this was the bestday of his life.
He had no idea it would be hislast.
With his staff applauding, hestepped into his office, shut
(04:18):
the door, had a massive heartattack, and crumpled to the
floor.
He was gone.
When the medics arrived to carryhim out, he was still clutching
that Forbes magazine with hisphoto on the cover in his hand.
A magazine issue that now seemedterribly and ironically one week
(04:47):
too late.
Since Solomon is now in his oldage, most of his powerful spirit
control advice has come at theend of his life, at his
retirement, so to speak, whichis now in view.
In chapter 9, where we pick itup again of Ecclesiastes, he
(05:10):
begins reminiscing on two of hismost favorite subjects, life and
death.
Solomon essentially says, Let'stalk about your deeds.
They are a reminder of God'sauthority.
And with that he begins chapter9 and verse 1.
Notice.
(05:31):
But all this I laid to heart,examining it all, how the
righteous and the wise and theirdeeds are in the hand of God.
Whether it is love or hate, mandoes not know, both are before
him.
In other words, Solomon is goingto leave it to God to judge his
(05:51):
deeds and determine what wascommendable and what was
worthless, what was worth lovingand what was worth discarding.
Now, what Solomon highlightshere for us is a reminder that
all of our deeds are, noticeagain, in the hand of God.
(06:13):
In the hand of God.
Now that doesn't mean we'repuppets.
That doesn't mean we're onstrings.
God is the puppeteer.
It doesn't mean we're notresponsible for our actions and
our deeds.
We are.
But God has woven our actions,good and bad, into his purposes
(06:34):
so that everything works outaccording to his divine plan.
Nobody throws a monkey wrenchinto God's purposes.
I guess you could say that whatSolomon is saying is that God
really does have the whole worldin his hands.
Keep in mind that those handsare now nail-scarred.
(06:59):
The world he created crucifiedhim.
They washed their hands of him.
But the sovereign Lord, make nomistake, who created the world
and loves the world and wasrejected by the world is still
in charge of the world.
Here's the good news for thebeliever: the Savior who called
(07:23):
you and redeemed you is capableof taking care of you.
He will never wash his hands ofyou.
He will never walk out on you.
Solomon says, let's talk aboutour deeds.
They are a reminder of God'sauthority.
(07:43):
His hand.
Secondly, now let's talk aboutyour death.
It's a reminder of God'sappointment.
Notice verse 2.
In the same, or it is the samefor all, since the same event,
mark that, the same eventhappens to the righteous and the
wicked, to the good and theevil, to the clean and the
(08:06):
unclean, that is ceremoniallyreligiously clean, to him who
sacrifices and him who does notsacrifice, those who come to the
temple regularly and those who,you know, never show up.
As the good one is, so is thesinner.
And he who swears is as he whoshuns an oath.
(08:31):
This is an evil in all that isdone under the sun, that the
same event, here he goes again,happens to all.
All die.
And just in case we don't thinkwe deserve to die, he adds in
verse 3 the hearts of thechildren of man, that is the
human race, are full of evil,and madness is in their hearts
(08:53):
while they live, and after thatthey go to the dead.
We're in need of a savior.
The Bible says there is nonerighteous.
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 notconvinced you're a sinner in the
(09:17):
company of the ones Solomon'sreferring to, keep in mind that
the penalty for sin is anappointment with death.
The Bible also says it isappointed unto man once to die.
You don't think you're a sinner?
Are you gonna die?
You're gonna die because you'rea sinner.
The Bible says the wages of sinis death.
(09:38):
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 itfor us all, and it reads,
D-E-A-T-H.
Solomon writes here in hisjournal, I've laid this to
(10:00):
heart.
I've meditated on this.
I've examined this.
I'm admitting the truth of this.
There is this one event that'sdeserved by all.
And no one can avoid it.
The good person experiences itand the evil person, the
(10:20):
religious person and theatheist, the guy who never
curses and the and the man whocan't stop swearing.
Morality does not protect youfrom mortality.
But people don't want to talkabout it.
People don't want to talk aboutdeath out there.
Because they'd like to believeit's never really gonna happen.
(10:40):
Death is unthinkable.
Beloved, death is notunthinkable.
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'stalked about it.
Some of his parting advice tohis son is going to ignore it,
(11:03):
and to us will we is the truthabout life and death.
Now, what Solomon does here nextis he adds two elements that
reveal why the unbelieverdoesn't really want to talk
about it.
First, because they know deepdown, they know they aren't
truly confident about lifebeyond the grave.
(11:23):
Notice what he says here inverse 4.
But he who's joined with all theliving has hope.
That word hope can be translatedconfidence.
In other words, as long asyou're alive and you're only
thinking about living, you don'twant to let your mind wander
(11:44):
into the subject of dying.
You get this sense ofconfidence.
This bravado out there.
In fact, everyone knows Solomongoes on to say in the last part
of this verse that a living dogis better than a dead lion.
What does that mean?
Well, dog in ancient days wasn'ta household pet like we have
(12:09):
today.
It was a mangy scavenger,unwanted.
In fact, for those of you thatare older in the faith, you've
probably picked up on the factthat throughout the Bible, dogs
are used symbolically ofevildoers, sinful people.
In fact, all the way to the lastreference, which happens to be
(12:31):
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 lovingthis right now.
This is hard for me to teach,but it's the truth.
(12:52):
They're a metaphor for wickedpeople.
The lion was all the way back inGenesis, linked to the royal
lion of the house of Judah inGenesis chapter 49.
The lion becomes the emblem ofthe Messiah.
He is the lion of the tribe ofJudah.
(13:15):
So what Solomon is saying hereis that it's better to be a
wicked sinner who's alive than anoble lion who's dead.
Because no matter how brave youmight want to be, you'd rather
be anything but dead.
(13:40):
The unbeliever, if you haveconversations, and I hope you
do, because you're to be thegospel light out there, you'll
find that they will admitthey're troubled.
They aren't confident aboutlife.
All the while they'll deny,they'll suppress the truth God
(14:00):
implanted in their hearts thatthere is a creator.
They want to deny him and theywant to deny any thought of
death.
Now, not only do unbelieversrealize that are not confident
about life beyond the grave,there's a second thing he
mentions here.
They realize they won't beremembered after they've gone to
the grave.
Notice what he writes in verse5, for the living know that they
(14:22):
will die.
They know in their heart ofhearts they're gonna die.
But the dead know nothing, theyhave no more reward, for the
memory of them is forgotten.
Generally speaking, this isabsolutely true.
Out of sight and out of mind.
(14:42):
Your family certainly willremember you, but the community
at large, your world at large,Solomon is the richest, most
famous, wisest man on theplanet, and he says, don't count
on it.
Now you might expect Solomon tofollow all this depressing
(15:05):
reality up by telling you, gofind a quiet place, go find it,
you know, find a room somewhere.
Be as quiet as you can, enjoy asmuch as you can, and die.
But he doesn't.
What he really tells us to do isto get ready to live.
Let's talk about your deeds.
They are under God's authority,let's talk about your death.
(15:27):
It's according to God'sappointment.
Now, thirdly, let's talk aboutyour direction.
It's a reminder of God'sapproval.
The next verse gives you aseries, by the way, of
imperative verbs.
You could put exclamation pointsover and over again in this last
section.
It begins with the word go.
(15:48):
You could translate it, come on.
You could translate it, getgoing.
You could translate it, let'sgo.
You'd think after all that hesaid, he'd say, Oh man, let's
just quit.
He gets to the end of that, andhe says, now let's go.
Let's get on with it.
And here's his first imperativein the list.
(16:10):
We'll put it this way inprinciple form.
Go on and enjoy the simplethings in life.
Look at verse 7.
Go, eat your bread with joy,drink your wine with a merry
heart, for God has alreadyapproved what you do.
For the believer, this iswonderful news.
You're not living, we sang it,you're not living under
(16:32):
condemnation.
No condemnation now I dread.
You're free to live and free toenjoy the simplest gifts of
life.
I love the fact that Solomondoesn't say here that what you
need to really enjoy life is apalace and a lot of gold and
(16:53):
really fast horses out there inthe pasture and a lot of
building projects and parks andall of that.
No, he says, what you need to doto 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.
(17:14):
He talks about your wardrobenext in verse 8.
Let your garments be alwayswhite.
Let not oil be lacking on yourhead.
This is a metaphor forrejoicing.
White garments are the garmentsof the wedding and the festival
and the reunion.
They represented joy.
(17:35):
Go on and enjoy the simplethings of life.
Secondly, go on and enjoy yourrelationships in life.
Look at verse 9.
Enjoy life with the wife whomyou love all the days of your
fleeting, quick life that He hasgiven you under the sun, because
(18:00):
that is your portion in life andin your toil at which you toil
under the sun.
Enjoy that relationship.
Enjoy your wife.
I don't know about you, but thisCOVID thing has given me a lot
more time at home.
(18:20):
Especially in the early months.
I was able to spend more timewith my wife than she ever
wanted.
I mean dreamed.
No traveling to meeting, justZoom.
On at 8:30, off at 9.30.
All that time, you know,captured.
We've had a blast.
(18:42):
She's taught me how to playYahtzee and Rummy Cube.
The only way I can beat her isto 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 withyour wife.
(19:03):
No, he he says something muchmore profound.
Enjoy life with your wife.
You're not using her, you'reenjoying life with her.
And isn't it interesting, didyou notice, that the man who had
700 wives comes to the end ofhis life and changes everything
(19:25):
with a stroke of his inspiredpen from the plural to the
singular.
He had forfeited throughout lifea loving relationship with a
wife for multiple wives andconcubines.
And now as an old man, it'salmost as if Solomon is as much
(19:47):
as admitting that he finallyknows better.
This advice could be broadened,of course, in application to
include children and parents andgrandparents, extended family.
This is how to enjoy life.
Let's go for it.
Make the most of yourrelationships.
(20:12):
You're not ignoring, by the way,the reality of the grim reaper.
You're not trying to avoid thereality of the grim reaper.
You're effectively dancingbefore the grim reaper.
In spite of the grim reaper.
(20:32):
Even though you know the grimreaper'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 Godunfolds it with an attitude.
The New Testament, by the way,correspondingly encourages to
(20:55):
rejoice in the Lord always.
And again, say with me, andagain I say, rejoice.
That means put on the festivalgarb every day.
You're not denying thedifficulties of life.
You're just choosing to make themost of life.
That's what Solomon is saying.
(21:17):
Go on and enjoy the simplethings in life.
Go on and enjoy therelationships you have in life.
One more.
Go on and enjoy every facet oflife.
Now, in case you think Solomonis 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.
(21:43):
For there's no work or thoughtor knowledge or wisdom in Sheol
that is the grave to which youare going.
Now he's not in this text tryingto deny the afterlife.
He's simply emphasizing that weneed to maximize the potential
of life.
And I love that first word, thatinclusive word.
(22:05):
Whatever.
Whatever your hand finds to do,do it with all your might.
When God made all that iscreative and lovely and
imaginative and glorious, and hecame to the end of it, and
(22:25):
Genesis 1 gives the summation ofthe triune God in verse 31.
Behold, look, it is very good.
Yes, sin mars it, but there'smuch to be enjoyed.
Whatever it is of God's world,whatever your hand finds to do
(22:49):
is so long as it doesn't violatea command or character of God.
Enjoy whatever your hand findsto do.
Enjoy whatever.
One of my commentators in mystudy said, you know what that
means?
It means go ride a bike.
(23:13):
Go visit the Grand Canyon.
Learn a musical instrument.
Visit the sick, cook a meal forthe 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.
(23:37):
Thought it was interesting.
Dio Moody, writing more than ahundred years ago, caught the
sense of Solomon's commandcorrectly when he wrote this.
I believe the religion of Christengages the whole person.
Why shouldn't a Christian playtennis?
Don't imagine, he writes, thatyou have to go live in a cave to
(23:59):
be consecrated.
Whatever you take up, take it upwith all your heart.
You know what you're doing inlife with that simple meal?
The joy of your spouse and homeand family, the excellence with
which you take up whatever thetask is.
(24:21):
You are actually tasting, youare preparing for, you are, you
are sampling an appetizer,you're getting a glimpse of life
beyond the curse, life beyondthe grave, where you will feast
(24:42):
at the marriage, supper of theLamb, and you will enjoy the
fruit of the orchards that growalong Main Street in the
Father's house bearing fruitevery 30 days.
This is where you will haverelationships with the entire
family of the redeemed, enjoy tothe fullest, where we will serve
(25:02):
with everything we are andeverything we have, our
Redeemer, where we will live, ina sense, with uninhibited
dancing and unimaginable triumphand unspeakable glory and grace
that we cannot yet imagine, butwe get a sample, we get a taste
(25:24):
down here.
So go on, learn to dance beforethe grim reaper, savor, enjoy,
taste, serve love.
And then at God's appointedtime, you will wean your way to
(25:47):
that city where the dancing andthe feasting and the loving and
the serving and the thanking andthe worshiping will go on and on
(26:11):
and on with uninterruptedeternal joy.
So enjoy lunch today.
I recommend not just bread, buta lot of butter.
SPEAKER_01 (26:41):
What a great reminder today.
Thanks for joining us here onWisdom for the Heart.
This is the Bible teachingministry of Stephen Davy, and
you can learn more about us ifyou visit our website, which is
wisdomonline.org.
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advantage of something that willhelp you stay connected and keep
(27:04):
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