Wise people embrace their own mortality, finality, and finitude with awe, respect, and a sense of ultimate urgency to live each day as a gift and a stewardship.

" For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish." (Psalm 49:10-12 ESV)

This is without exception. Death comes to all. The date is not predetermined, but the reality is. This is not a fearful thing for the wise. Nor is trouble or temporal inequity. The wise person is not caught off-guard.

" Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit." (Psalm 49:5-9 ESV)

Fools and wise all die, rich and poor expire, and the powerful perish with the powerless. A common grave awaits all flesh. The realm of death enevlopes all equally and without bias.

Yet …

" This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah" (Psalm 49:13-15 ESV)

Still we fret.

It is not necessary:

" Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish." (Psalm 49:16-20 ESV)

Our pomp and grandeur is fading into the flickering diminished of all artificial light. What is true and real remains. It behooves us to put away foolish pursuits and delve deeply into the waters of eternal significance. It is the wisest, best, and most enduring endeavor available to us.