The Righteous Must Therefore Find Joy In Their Present Life For There Is None Beyond The Grave (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10).
The Preacher is still considering the facts on which he is to make his final decision, and he has just reiterated his great problem, that God does not differentiate between the treatment of the righteous and the unrighteous, between the wise and the foolish, and has appointed the same death for all. He has previously been impressed with the lives of the godly. They have something that no others have. But he now feels that that is also futile. He has reached the lowest point of his musings. So he now tells them that they must enjoy it while they may, for it seems to him that they will not enjoy anything beyond the grave. Yet it is clear that he still accepts that the godly ‘have the best of it'. They eat with joy, they drink joyously, they wear festive clothes, they anoint their heads lavishly, they live joyously with their wives. Nevertheless in the end they finish up like everyone else.
‘Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a joyous heart, for God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be always white, and do not let your heads lack ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your meaningless life, which he has given you under the sun. For that is your portion in life, and in your labour with which you labour under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave to which you go.'
He tells God's true people that they must carry on living, eating and drinking joyfully, as normal, for God has already accepted their works as is demonstrated by the fact that they do have food and drink. They must wear festive garments and anoint their heads lavishly (signs of continual joy). They must live joyfully with their wives whom they love. But that is all that they can expect. That is their portion in life and in their labour which ‘He has given you under the sun'. This last phrase links the godly with the futility of the ungodly and limits all things to this earth. In view of that all that is open to them is to do whatever their hands do with all their might. For once they are in the grave there will be no work, no device, no knowledge and no wisdom. Death is the end. So they are told to enjoy their lives in contentment, and make the most of them while they can, for that is what God has allotted to them. The description covers everyone, both the labourer, the businessman, the student, and the professor. No one can work beyond the grave so they should put in every effort here in this life so as to achieve the best.
Until recognition comes of a life beyond the grave this is the best a man can hope for. But he wants us to know that it is a good best.