The wise man will take his final destiny into account. He will allow his mortality to teach him and not refuse to listen. There is a reason for these most basic facts about his existence. Why do human beings die? Poets and philosophers have thought long and hard about this, but there is no answer outside of Scripture. Death is not something natural, but something highly unnatural and not part of God’s original intention for man; it is not the state in which he was created. It has come into the world through Adam’s sin and passed to all men, and even to the animal kingdom.
This is a strongly evangelistic passage and the preacher of the gospel must help his hearers to measure life by what lies at the end of it, and by the aging process which precedes it. When we die, we leave all behind and are summoned into the presence of God to give account of all our days. If you belong to Christ, you have wonderful guarantees and promises. In this life you will have meaningful service for God, and be delivered from many pitfalls, and finally you will meet the one who was your Saviour and who led you all the way.