Here’s some Hebrew Wisdom that is counter-cultural to many modern beliefs!

The Heart of the Wise is in the House of Mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Behold a perfect example of Hebrew Parallelism, a most prominent literary tool used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. This is a classic verse displaying how in the Hebrew mind, one can compare to different pictures, to teach a third new in a revelatory picture.

What is being compared? Simple: the Heart of the Wise vs. the heart of fools.

What is the outcome of the comparison? It is wiser to abide in the House of Mourning, than in the House of Pleasure.

Now we must ask the question, Why is this so? and How do we know? Is the true? What Evidence supports this conclusion?

Well, this is the testimony of a man who has experienced both the house or mourning and the house of pleasure, probably much more than any living human being. King Solomon went off the rails seeking pleasure, and it ruined his life in God.

1 Kings 11:1-6 (NIV) 1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.

Solomon like many before him tried to escape the pain of this world by delving into the pleasures of this life, only to find himself in even more pain than before. Thus His testimony is well documented, and we can learn much from others mistakes if we would only but listen and hear–would could avoid much suffering and needless sorrow.

And sorrow is a good teacher. Embracing our sorrow brings us wisdom, and can draw us much closer to God and to our eternal destiny. If you constantly maintain the day of your death and the time of accountability and the hour of judgement, that one consideration of eternity with God will shape your every temporary decision down here on Earth. That is why this is true:

The Heart of the Wise is in the House of Mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Below is some background reading:

Ecclesiastes 7:1-10 (NIV)
1 A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

1 Kings 11:4-20 (HCSB) 4 When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been. 5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’S sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.
7 At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.
9 The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the LORD had commanded.
11 Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Since you have done this and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David; I will tear it out of your son’s hand. 13 Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 So the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite as an enemy against Solomon. He was of the royal family in Edom. 15 Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom. 16 For Joab and all Israel had remained there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom. 17 Hadad fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites from his father’s servants. At the time Hadad was a small boy. 18 Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, ordered that he be given food, and gave him land. 19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him a wife, the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. 20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to Hadad’s son Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath lived there along with Pharaoh’s sons.