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Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End
What if it is death that teaches us how to truly live?
Keeping the end in mind shapes how we live our lives in the here and now. Living life backward means taking the one thing in our future that is certain—death—and letting that inform our journey before we get there.
Looking to the book of Ecclesiastes for wisdom, Living Life Backward was written to shake up our expectations and priorities for what it means to live “the good life.” Considering the reality of death helps us pay attention to our limitations as human beings and receive life as a wondrous gift from God—freeing us to live wisely, generously, and faithfully for God’s glory and the good of his world.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2017
928 people are currently reading
4834 people want to read
About the author
David Gibson
11 books118 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
David Gibson (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the Minister of Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland. Previously he served as a staff worker for the Religious and Theological Studies Fellowship (part of UCCF) and as an assistant minister at High Church, Hilton, Aberdeen. Gibson has also published a number of articles and books such as Rich: The Reality of Encountering Jesus and Reading the Decree: Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth.
David Gibson (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the Minister of Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland. Previously he served as a staff worker for the Religious and Theological Studies Fellowship (part of UCCF) and as an assistant minister at High Church, Hilton, Aberdeen. Gibson has also published a number of articles and books such as Rich: The Reality of Encountering Jesus and Reading the Decree: Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 556 reviews
November 24, 2019
Clear, pastoral, decisive - I loved the way Gibson wrote about my favorite book of the Bible. He refuses to let the reader tip into apathy that all is fine or into depression that all is pointless. He focuses on the end of life as the reason to live life well, and it is convicting and encouraging. In short, he pastors the reader and shepherds us through this book. Stylistically, I appreciated his ability to get to the point and avoid needless repetition. He says what he wants the reader to know and doesn't distract or talk down.
August 30, 2023
This book is like getting kissed by a brick.. like “ooo kissy kissy” but then you’re getting SCHMACKED into next year… but with love, you know?
Okay okay quote from the book: “The day of death is better than the day of birth - not because death is better than life; it’s not - but because a coffin is a better preacher than a cot.” See? Schmacked. Absolutely whammied. Like a spiritual Mike Tyson.
Okay okay quote from the book: “The day of death is better than the day of birth - not because death is better than life; it’s not - but because a coffin is a better preacher than a cot.” See? Schmacked. Absolutely whammied. Like a spiritual Mike Tyson.
May 18, 2022
Living Life Backward is one of the best books about Ecclesiastes that I’ve read. A typical reading of Ecclesiastes (following especially from the classic books by Derek Kidner and Michael Eaton) looks at the book as contrasting under-the-sun life with God’s perspective on life. David Gibson feels that this doesn’t give sufficient weight to what the Preacher says about life. The Preacher is not wrong about what life here is like, even if there is another perspective on all of it. The point in reading Ecclesiastes is not to quickly dismiss the under-the-sun point of view as only true if you don’t see things through faith in God. Rather, Gibson says, we’re meant to face the darkness and pointlessness of life fully—essentially, seeing things from the point of view of our death, and working backward to determine the kind of life we should life until that day. It’s only when we take seriously everything the Preacher says about living under the sun that we can understand the best way to live.
It’s an excellent perspective on this fantastic part of the Old Testament. Just before reading this book, I’d read Phil Ryken’s Why Everything Matters. To me, it seemed that Ryken’s book is a good summary of the usual interpretation of Ecclesiastes; but Gibson takes things in a slightly new direction that I found very helpful. The chapter I’m thinking about most after finishing the book is chapter 9, “One Foot in the Grave,” in which Gibson looks at chapters 11 and 12 of Ecclesiastes. He points out that the Preacher is not just mentioning the pleasure of being alive for all the days we have, but he is actually affirming God’s command that we enjoy life in this world. Gibson writes that “pleasure is a divine decree that we ignore at our peril. For it is precisely in enjoying the world God has made that we show we have grasped the goodness of the God we say we love. Failure to enjoy is an offense, not merely an oversight” (136). This chapter was full of insights that I continue to ponder.
I have read quite a few books about Ecclesiastes, and Living Life Backward is the one I most highly recommend.
It’s an excellent perspective on this fantastic part of the Old Testament. Just before reading this book, I’d read Phil Ryken’s Why Everything Matters. To me, it seemed that Ryken’s book is a good summary of the usual interpretation of Ecclesiastes; but Gibson takes things in a slightly new direction that I found very helpful. The chapter I’m thinking about most after finishing the book is chapter 9, “One Foot in the Grave,” in which Gibson looks at chapters 11 and 12 of Ecclesiastes. He points out that the Preacher is not just mentioning the pleasure of being alive for all the days we have, but he is actually affirming God’s command that we enjoy life in this world. Gibson writes that “pleasure is a divine decree that we ignore at our peril. For it is precisely in enjoying the world God has made that we show we have grasped the goodness of the God we say we love. Failure to enjoy is an offense, not merely an oversight” (136). This chapter was full of insights that I continue to ponder.
I have read quite a few books about Ecclesiastes, and Living Life Backward is the one I most highly recommend.
December 14, 2022
This book breaks down the book of Ecclesiastes in a simple, understandable, encouraging, and convicting way. Highly recommend.
"Your death and the judgment to follow—the great fixed points of your
life—are the very things that can reach back from the future into today and
transform the life God has given you to live."
"We are each, in all our earlier years, building the house in which we shall have to live when we grow old. And we may make it a prison or a palace. We may make it very beautiful, adorning it with taste and filling it with objects that will minister to our pleasure, comfort and power. We may cover the walls with lovely pictures. We may spread luxurious couches of ease on which to rest. We may lay up in store great supplies of provision upon which to feed in the days of hunger and feebleness. We may gather and pile away large bundles of wood to keep the fires blazing brightly in the long winter days and nights of old age. Or we may make our house very gloomy. We may hang the chamber walls with horrid pictures, covering them with ghastly spectres that will look down upon us and haunt us, filling our souls with terror when we sit in the gathering darkness of life’s nightfall. We may make beds of thorns to rest upon. We may lay up nothing to feed upon in the hunger and craving of declining years. We may have no fuel ready for winter fires. We may plant roses to bloom about our doors and fragrant gardens to pour their perfumes about us, or we may sow weeds and briers to flaunt themselves in our faces as we sit in our doorways in the gloaming. All old age is not beautiful. All old people are not happy."
"Your death and the judgment to follow—the great fixed points of your
life—are the very things that can reach back from the future into today and
transform the life God has given you to live."
"We are each, in all our earlier years, building the house in which we shall have to live when we grow old. And we may make it a prison or a palace. We may make it very beautiful, adorning it with taste and filling it with objects that will minister to our pleasure, comfort and power. We may cover the walls with lovely pictures. We may spread luxurious couches of ease on which to rest. We may lay up in store great supplies of provision upon which to feed in the days of hunger and feebleness. We may gather and pile away large bundles of wood to keep the fires blazing brightly in the long winter days and nights of old age. Or we may make our house very gloomy. We may hang the chamber walls with horrid pictures, covering them with ghastly spectres that will look down upon us and haunt us, filling our souls with terror when we sit in the gathering darkness of life’s nightfall. We may make beds of thorns to rest upon. We may lay up nothing to feed upon in the hunger and craving of declining years. We may have no fuel ready for winter fires. We may plant roses to bloom about our doors and fragrant gardens to pour their perfumes about us, or we may sow weeds and briers to flaunt themselves in our faces as we sit in our doorways in the gloaming. All old age is not beautiful. All old people are not happy."
March 21, 2024
This book was EPIC! So good! Combined with the book Don’t Waste Your Breath (which is not on Goodreads yet) you have a great picture of what Ecclesiastes is all about. And despite its reputation for being a depressing or just bad book of the Bible these two books show how the truth is it is an incredible book with a message that, sadly, most Christians miss because of the reputation. What a great book about a great book!! Highly recommended
September 11, 2017
First sentence (from the preface): I am going to die.
Premise/plot: Living Life Backward is a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. David Gibson addresses the contents of each chapter focusing on the big themes of the book. (It isn't exactly a verse-by-verse commentary. But all the big ideas of the book of Ecclesiastes are discussed and the text of Ecclesiastes is included so I don't hesitate to call it a commentary.) The main premise of this one is simple. Gibson writes, "I am convinced that only a proper perspective on death provides the true perspective on life. Living in the light of your death will help you to live wisely and freely and generously....I want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live."
Lesson from chapter one: "Ecclesiastes is a meditation on what it means to be alive in a world that God made and called good, yet which has also gone so very wrong, often in catastrophic ways."
Lesson from chapter two: "Death can radically enable us to enjoy life. By relativizing all that we do in our days under the sun, death can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift."
Lesson from chapter three: "One of the ways we learn to live by preparing to die is by realizing that death means judgment and that this is a good thing. It gives my present actions meaning and weight, and it gives my experienced losses and injustices a voice in God’s presence. What is past may be past, but what is past is not forgotten to God, and because he is in charge and lives forever, one day all will be well. Every single thing that happens will have its day in court. This brings both comfort and challenge."
Lesson from chapter four: "If you can live in this world in such a way that the person or people beside you—your friend, your spouse, your children, your brother, your sister, the people God has put in your path—are your waking concern and your dominant focus, then you will find happiness."
Lesson from chapter five: "The ear is the Christian’s primary sense organ. Listening to what God has said is our main spiritual discipline. We need someone to tell us to listen because we want to look and speak more than we want to listen."
Lesson from chapter six: "Death is an evangelist. He looks us in the eye and asks us to look him right back with a steady gaze and allow him to do his work in us. Death is a preacher with a very simple message. Death has an invitation for us. He wants to teach us that the day of our coming death can be a friend to us in advance. The very limitation that death introduces into our life can instruct us about life."
Lesson from chapter seven: "To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I’m happy to go home to him."
Lesson from chapter eight: "There are better things to do than succeed, more important things to do than make it in the world, and there are worse things to do than fail."
Lesson from chapter nine: "Only Christ can make any life, young or old, truly beautiful or truly happy. Only he can cure the heart’s restless fever and give quietness and calmness. Only he can purify that sinful fountain within us, our corrupt nature, and make us holy. To have a peaceful and blessed ending to life, we must live it with Christ. Such a life grows brighter even to its close. Its last days are the sunniest and the sweetest. "
Lesson from chapter ten: "I want to suggest two ways to help you evaluate where you are in relation to these two things: the pleasure of the Bible and the pain of the Bible. They’re attitude testers, ways of taking your own spiritual temperature. First, you can measure whether you find the Bible delightful, not by how often you read it or by how much of it you read, and not by whether you find it easy or difficult to read, but by whether you approach the Bible expecting to be surprised. Bible delight is born when you expect it to teach you something you did not know already. The more childlike you are toward the Bible, the more likely you are to find it having just the right words for you. Second, a way to evaluate your relationship to the Bible’s pain is to ask yourself, when was the last time you submitted to it and acted on what it says, even when you did not like it? Have you ever obeyed it when you found what it was saying offensive? Reinterpreting the Bible to mean something different is always a moral exercise before it is ever an intellectual one. That is, if we do not like what the Bible says because it confronts us, then we will always find some way of changing what it means so it lines up with the world we want to live in instead."
My thoughts: Living Life Backward is packed with rich insight on how to live life. It isn't necessarily restricting the "how to live life well" to how to live a Christian life. Ecclesiastes has lessons to teach everyone after all. It is a contemplative book; a book that can easily be misunderstood and misapplied. I loved so much of what Gibson had to say. I also loved the quotes that he shared.
Premise/plot: Living Life Backward is a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. David Gibson addresses the contents of each chapter focusing on the big themes of the book. (It isn't exactly a verse-by-verse commentary. But all the big ideas of the book of Ecclesiastes are discussed and the text of Ecclesiastes is included so I don't hesitate to call it a commentary.) The main premise of this one is simple. Gibson writes, "I am convinced that only a proper perspective on death provides the true perspective on life. Living in the light of your death will help you to live wisely and freely and generously....I want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die can you really learn how to live."
Lesson from chapter one: "Ecclesiastes is a meditation on what it means to be alive in a world that God made and called good, yet which has also gone so very wrong, often in catastrophic ways."
Lesson from chapter two: "Death can radically enable us to enjoy life. By relativizing all that we do in our days under the sun, death can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift."
Lesson from chapter three: "One of the ways we learn to live by preparing to die is by realizing that death means judgment and that this is a good thing. It gives my present actions meaning and weight, and it gives my experienced losses and injustices a voice in God’s presence. What is past may be past, but what is past is not forgotten to God, and because he is in charge and lives forever, one day all will be well. Every single thing that happens will have its day in court. This brings both comfort and challenge."
Lesson from chapter four: "If you can live in this world in such a way that the person or people beside you—your friend, your spouse, your children, your brother, your sister, the people God has put in your path—are your waking concern and your dominant focus, then you will find happiness."
Lesson from chapter five: "The ear is the Christian’s primary sense organ. Listening to what God has said is our main spiritual discipline. We need someone to tell us to listen because we want to look and speak more than we want to listen."
Lesson from chapter six: "Death is an evangelist. He looks us in the eye and asks us to look him right back with a steady gaze and allow him to do his work in us. Death is a preacher with a very simple message. Death has an invitation for us. He wants to teach us that the day of our coming death can be a friend to us in advance. The very limitation that death introduces into our life can instruct us about life."
Lesson from chapter seven: "To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I’m happy to go home to him."
Lesson from chapter eight: "There are better things to do than succeed, more important things to do than make it in the world, and there are worse things to do than fail."
Lesson from chapter nine: "Only Christ can make any life, young or old, truly beautiful or truly happy. Only he can cure the heart’s restless fever and give quietness and calmness. Only he can purify that sinful fountain within us, our corrupt nature, and make us holy. To have a peaceful and blessed ending to life, we must live it with Christ. Such a life grows brighter even to its close. Its last days are the sunniest and the sweetest. "
Lesson from chapter ten: "I want to suggest two ways to help you evaluate where you are in relation to these two things: the pleasure of the Bible and the pain of the Bible. They’re attitude testers, ways of taking your own spiritual temperature. First, you can measure whether you find the Bible delightful, not by how often you read it or by how much of it you read, and not by whether you find it easy or difficult to read, but by whether you approach the Bible expecting to be surprised. Bible delight is born when you expect it to teach you something you did not know already. The more childlike you are toward the Bible, the more likely you are to find it having just the right words for you. Second, a way to evaluate your relationship to the Bible’s pain is to ask yourself, when was the last time you submitted to it and acted on what it says, even when you did not like it? Have you ever obeyed it when you found what it was saying offensive? Reinterpreting the Bible to mean something different is always a moral exercise before it is ever an intellectual one. That is, if we do not like what the Bible says because it confronts us, then we will always find some way of changing what it means so it lines up with the world we want to live in instead."
My thoughts: Living Life Backward is packed with rich insight on how to live life. It isn't necessarily restricting the "how to live life well" to how to live a Christian life. Ecclesiastes has lessons to teach everyone after all. It is a contemplative book; a book that can easily be misunderstood and misapplied. I loved so much of what Gibson had to say. I also loved the quotes that he shared.
August 14, 2019
Ecclesiastes was not written by Eeyore
Read Ecclesiastes again without assuming the author (The Preacher) is glum and despondent. Instead, hear words of delight. Feel the Shepherd’s goad as it jabs at tender spots, moving you to consider words of truth you might prefer to avoid.
Read Ecclesiastes again without assuming the author (The Preacher) is glum and despondent. Instead, hear words of delight. Feel the Shepherd’s goad as it jabs at tender spots, moving you to consider words of truth you might prefer to avoid.
February 21, 2022
One of the best pieces of Christian non fiction I’ve ever read. If you’re like me and have no idea what Ecclesiastes means half the time, this is the book. Gives incredible perspective on how to live in light of death.
October 4, 2022
This book!! READ IT! It was so good I’m about to re-read it.
“Your death and the judgment to follow-the great fixed points of your life-are the very things that can reach back from the future into today and transform the life God has given you to live”
“Your death and the judgment to follow-the great fixed points of your life-are the very things that can reach back from the future into today and transform the life God has given you to live”
January 7, 2026
I decided to reread this when our pastor started a series on Ecclesiastes, and it was even better the second time through.
November 29, 2025
This is the longest book review I've ever written, it really got me thinking! I suppose this is a critical review of the book, oh dear. But take it more as my own personal reflection, less objective book review. So I will say up front that I think this is a good book, worth reading, and it really got my wheels turning as I processed my own view of death. I don’t find Ecclesiastes gloomy but I did personally find this book a lil gloomy.
Obviously, before cracking open this book, read the whole book of Ecclesiastes first! Gibson includes passages at the beginning of each chapter but doesn’t cover every verse in the whole book.
As noted in the subtitle, the focus in this book is on death (“how Ecclesiastes teaches us to live in light of the end”). So my qualm with this book is actually pretty subtle, maybe it won’t bother you.. I didn’t love the main focus being on death. Swapping out the word “death” for “eternity” helped my mind shift from lingering on a curse to the blessing believers receive without de-emphasizing the fragility and temporary nature of our life now. My extra critical reading of this could be due to reading Bavinck’s sin and death chapter (Wonderful Works of God) at the same time. Bavinck really drives home the point of death being a curse (not that Gibson denies this but his emphasis is on death as a teacher).
If you have a tendency to not enjoy life (p 130 talks about doing things on a bucket list instead of just a to-do list) you may find this book what you need to slow down and enjoy God’s blessings. I find myself needing encouragement to persevere in the to-dos and enjoy those things as blessings, not dream about escape or a Europe vacation (which is what comes to my mind when I think “bucket list”). Gibson asks how our life would look if we knew we would die tomorrow. I discussed this with my husband as he was on his way out the door for work when he spilled an entire smoothie all over the floor. I jokingly (and also seriously) asked if he knew he was going to die tomorrow would he bother to clean that up or just step over it and move on? I know I wouldn’t want to! But should I do it? Yes! This story isn’t a critique on Gibson’s question, but I want him to take it further, to help me think through WHY I should continue in the daily hum drums of life even if I may die tomorrow. (He gets there eventually, in the very last chapter).
When I think about living in the light of impending death I have a hard time adjusting my attitude to do things I don’t want to do. When I think about living in light of heaven, of eternity, I feel enabled to endure hard things, or just things that aren’t all about me and my enjoyment. Death in itself is an insufficient motivator. Thinking about death doesn’t take it far enough. It’s a subtle shift of focus, maybe not difficult for others but for my own tendency to pursue comfort and pleasure it is a necessary one! You could argue that as a Christian my view on death should be one that motivates me but being a believer does not change what death is - a terrible curse. It changes our relationship to it, we do not have to fear it or “what is frightening” because Christ has conquered death. Focusing on my death is self-focused which can be helpful but will only get me so far. Focusing on eternity changes my perspective to outside of myself. All the good we experience here on earth is a small glimpse or foretaste of what is to come. The good things are for our enjoyment but not only, they are to point us to God as the source.
So, like I mentioned previously he does finally bring it home in the last chapter “Getting the Point”. This chapter is what I wanted from each of the previous. The ultimate whys and the hows! Our hope in Christ!
So just to summarize, I liked what Gibson had to say, I just wish he took it FURTHER more consistently throughout the book, not just in the last chapter. Phrases like “grab hold of life with both hands while the opportunity still exists” (p 134) just don’t do it for me (motivate me to enjoy life to God’s glory).
Good takeaways I had from this book - to slow down, to notice the earthly blessings God has given me. My children, husband, my eyesight, tastebuds, memory, body that can move freely. Mopping up that smoothie and thanking God to be able to clean it without aches and pains. To have a house and floor to clean and people to share it with. To have the ingredients to spill in the first place.
Extra reading recs:
- Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A good man is hard to find” paired with this book were perfect together! Flannery forces the reader’s eyes open (and her characters’) to the inevitability of death and contrasts a nihilistic perspective, cultural Christianity, and true belief with each other. (And the Literary Life podcast on this story/Flannery if you have no idea what’s going on in that story as I did).
- Ch 13 Sin and Death in The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck
- The Pundit’s Folly by Sinclair Ferguson. A book also on Ecclesiastes, I prefer the structure, argument, and tone of this book to Living Life Backward. Both are useful, just different. Ferguson takes an evangelistic angle which I didn’t notice until the end, I just found myself encouraged along the way resting in Christ.
Obviously, before cracking open this book, read the whole book of Ecclesiastes first! Gibson includes passages at the beginning of each chapter but doesn’t cover every verse in the whole book.
As noted in the subtitle, the focus in this book is on death (“how Ecclesiastes teaches us to live in light of the end”). So my qualm with this book is actually pretty subtle, maybe it won’t bother you.. I didn’t love the main focus being on death. Swapping out the word “death” for “eternity” helped my mind shift from lingering on a curse to the blessing believers receive without de-emphasizing the fragility and temporary nature of our life now. My extra critical reading of this could be due to reading Bavinck’s sin and death chapter (Wonderful Works of God) at the same time. Bavinck really drives home the point of death being a curse (not that Gibson denies this but his emphasis is on death as a teacher).
If you have a tendency to not enjoy life (p 130 talks about doing things on a bucket list instead of just a to-do list) you may find this book what you need to slow down and enjoy God’s blessings. I find myself needing encouragement to persevere in the to-dos and enjoy those things as blessings, not dream about escape or a Europe vacation (which is what comes to my mind when I think “bucket list”). Gibson asks how our life would look if we knew we would die tomorrow. I discussed this with my husband as he was on his way out the door for work when he spilled an entire smoothie all over the floor. I jokingly (and also seriously) asked if he knew he was going to die tomorrow would he bother to clean that up or just step over it and move on? I know I wouldn’t want to! But should I do it? Yes! This story isn’t a critique on Gibson’s question, but I want him to take it further, to help me think through WHY I should continue in the daily hum drums of life even if I may die tomorrow. (He gets there eventually, in the very last chapter).
When I think about living in the light of impending death I have a hard time adjusting my attitude to do things I don’t want to do. When I think about living in light of heaven, of eternity, I feel enabled to endure hard things, or just things that aren’t all about me and my enjoyment. Death in itself is an insufficient motivator. Thinking about death doesn’t take it far enough. It’s a subtle shift of focus, maybe not difficult for others but for my own tendency to pursue comfort and pleasure it is a necessary one! You could argue that as a Christian my view on death should be one that motivates me but being a believer does not change what death is - a terrible curse. It changes our relationship to it, we do not have to fear it or “what is frightening” because Christ has conquered death. Focusing on my death is self-focused which can be helpful but will only get me so far. Focusing on eternity changes my perspective to outside of myself. All the good we experience here on earth is a small glimpse or foretaste of what is to come. The good things are for our enjoyment but not only, they are to point us to God as the source.
So, like I mentioned previously he does finally bring it home in the last chapter “Getting the Point”. This chapter is what I wanted from each of the previous. The ultimate whys and the hows! Our hope in Christ!
So just to summarize, I liked what Gibson had to say, I just wish he took it FURTHER more consistently throughout the book, not just in the last chapter. Phrases like “grab hold of life with both hands while the opportunity still exists” (p 134) just don’t do it for me (motivate me to enjoy life to God’s glory).
Good takeaways I had from this book - to slow down, to notice the earthly blessings God has given me. My children, husband, my eyesight, tastebuds, memory, body that can move freely. Mopping up that smoothie and thanking God to be able to clean it without aches and pains. To have a house and floor to clean and people to share it with. To have the ingredients to spill in the first place.
Extra reading recs:
- Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A good man is hard to find” paired with this book were perfect together! Flannery forces the reader’s eyes open (and her characters’) to the inevitability of death and contrasts a nihilistic perspective, cultural Christianity, and true belief with each other. (And the Literary Life podcast on this story/Flannery if you have no idea what’s going on in that story as I did).
- Ch 13 Sin and Death in The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck
- The Pundit’s Folly by Sinclair Ferguson. A book also on Ecclesiastes, I prefer the structure, argument, and tone of this book to Living Life Backward. Both are useful, just different. Ferguson takes an evangelistic angle which I didn’t notice until the end, I just found myself encouraged along the way resting in Christ.
November 13, 2021
There once was this guy, to pick a random name let’s just call him SAM, who tried to explain Ecclesiastes to me. He did a bad job. This book did it better. Would definitely recommend for people who struggle to grasp the meaning of such a seemingly cynical book (aka me). Everyone should go read this book now because Ecclesiastes says we’ll all be dead soon anyways.
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May 21, 2025I loved David Gibson's perspective on Ecclesiastes.
Many commenators and preachers I've encountered take the interpretation that the "under the sun" passages and all the "harder" verses are speaking from the nihilistic position of a world without God.
This has never seemed like a satisfactory view to me.
Gibson agrees, showing rather how every verse in Ecclesiastes can and should apply to us, even with God in the picture.
And that's where the real beauty of Ecclesiastes (and this study of it) lies. There's no glossing over of the jagged edges of life, but the pain adds to the richness of joy to be found in Ecclesiastes.
David Gibson is quickly becoming a favourite author. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend his book "The Lord of Psalm 23", my #1 read of 2025 so far.
Many commenators and preachers I've encountered take the interpretation that the "under the sun" passages and all the "harder" verses are speaking from the nihilistic position of a world without God.
This has never seemed like a satisfactory view to me.
Gibson agrees, showing rather how every verse in Ecclesiastes can and should apply to us, even with God in the picture.
And that's where the real beauty of Ecclesiastes (and this study of it) lies. There's no glossing over of the jagged edges of life, but the pain adds to the richness of joy to be found in Ecclesiastes.
David Gibson is quickly becoming a favourite author. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend his book "The Lord of Psalm 23", my #1 read of 2025 so far.
January 5, 2026
Excellent commentary on Ecclesiastes. I already want to give it a re-listen.
Don't live your life to try to gain something, but enjoy the gifts of God.
Read by the author in a lovely Scottish accent.
10/10 recommend.
Don't live your life to try to gain something, but enjoy the gifts of God.
Read by the author in a lovely Scottish accent.
10/10 recommend.
January 15, 2026
Probably my favorite Christian book I’ve read in the past year
August 1, 2020
The book of Ecclesiastes is my favorite book in the Bible. I'm not sure that I've heard anyone else say it, but the book is important to me because I often get too caught up in this world (often is too nice of a word) and I need the reminder of Ecclesiastes that all is "vanity." Living Life Backward is written by David Gibson a pastor in Scotland, and I loved how the Scottish part of him would come out in the book. The book is super-quotable and just helped my love for the book of Ecclesiases grow even further. Gibson does an excellent job of reminding the reader that this world is not our home and our focus should always be focused on eternity. We need to focus on our destination - eternity - to live the proper Christian life. If we're not thinking about our death, then we can never enjoy the gifts that are in front of us each and every day. The book truly describes the message of Ecclesiastes (as said on page 98), "It's an invitation to be a person who realizes that living a good life means preparing to die a good death."
Favorite quotes:
p. 25 - "Our constant connection to digital media and screen-based forms of communication is suffocating our ability to be people of substantial depth."
p. 32 - "A hundred years after your death, the chances are, no one will ever know you lived."
p. 36 - "People who follow Jesus often lose sight of the world to come. We become resident Christians rather than nomadic Christians. We become fully integrated in this world rather than viewing ourselves as passing through, and we do this by living as if our greatest treasures are here and now."
p. 57 - "We are not built to understand the big picture, precisely because we live in time and God does not."
p. 95 - "Birth is all about potential, but death, for the believer, is all about fulfillment."
p. 110 - "To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I'm happy to go home to him."
p. 130 - "A life fully lived is a life receiving the reward of today as a gift that you don't deserve and one that God has given you to enjoy. One day it won't be possible. Death is coming. So do your bucket list - not your to-do list."
Favorite quotes:
p. 25 - "Our constant connection to digital media and screen-based forms of communication is suffocating our ability to be people of substantial depth."
p. 32 - "A hundred years after your death, the chances are, no one will ever know you lived."
p. 36 - "People who follow Jesus often lose sight of the world to come. We become resident Christians rather than nomadic Christians. We become fully integrated in this world rather than viewing ourselves as passing through, and we do this by living as if our greatest treasures are here and now."
p. 57 - "We are not built to understand the big picture, precisely because we live in time and God does not."
p. 95 - "Birth is all about potential, but death, for the believer, is all about fulfillment."
p. 110 - "To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I'm happy to go home to him."
p. 130 - "A life fully lived is a life receiving the reward of today as a gift that you don't deserve and one that God has given you to enjoy. One day it won't be possible. Death is coming. So do your bucket list - not your to-do list."
February 6, 2022
This book requires rumination (which I am very thankful the author included reflection questions for), a steady pace, and endurance.
The author’s reflection on Ecclesiastes is one profound enough to alter your entire worldview. I found it to be motivating, challenging, blunt (“Do not be the kind of person who can be bought...Extra cash? What are you going to do with it? You could always use it to line the walls of your coffin. Let your coming death protect your heart.”) and beautiful (“To have a peaceful and blessed ending to life, we must live with Christ. Such a life grows brighter even to its close. Its last days are the sunniest and sweetest.”)
There is no way to walk away from this one without a deep set urgency to "live immediately."
Reread:
December 2019
December 2020
December 2021
The author’s reflection on Ecclesiastes is one profound enough to alter your entire worldview. I found it to be motivating, challenging, blunt (“Do not be the kind of person who can be bought...Extra cash? What are you going to do with it? You could always use it to line the walls of your coffin. Let your coming death protect your heart.”) and beautiful (“To have a peaceful and blessed ending to life, we must live with Christ. Such a life grows brighter even to its close. Its last days are the sunniest and sweetest.”)
There is no way to walk away from this one without a deep set urgency to "live immediately."
Reread:
December 2019
December 2020
December 2021
February 3, 2018
I put this on my to-read list thanks to it being WORLD Magazine’s accessible theology book of the year. In this book, Gibson presents well-organized analysis, examples, and practical applications about the truth and themes found in the book of Ecclesiastes - most importantly, he explores the question how do you live the “good life” now knowing that you will inevitably die? Gibson’s writing style was structured and readable and occasionally comic; I particularly liked chapters 7 and 8. My only complaints were a lack of depth and Gibson’s occasional over-generalizations and over-simplifications of the ideas found in Ecclesiastes.
April 26, 2021
Wow. Can’t recommend this book highly enough. So so good.
“Far from being something that makes life in the present completely pointless, future death is a light God shines on the present to change it. Death can radically enable us to enjoy life. By relativizing all that we do in our days under the sun, death can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift. Life in God’s world is gift, not gain.”
“Far from being something that makes life in the present completely pointless, future death is a light God shines on the present to change it. Death can radically enable us to enjoy life. By relativizing all that we do in our days under the sun, death can change us from people who want to control life for gain into people who find deep joy in receiving life as a gift. Life in God’s world is gift, not gain.”
May 23, 2022
This is the first supplemental Christian book I've ever read and despite how long I took to read it, it was worth every month. This book has changed my perspective on how to look at life in the best way possible. I have learned a lot about myself, my faith, and how to live from just one book about death. I enjoyed how this book broke down verses and made them understandable.
April 15, 2024
GO READ THIS BOOK
Gibson approaches Ecclesiastes with the perspective that life is lived when we live in light of our death and that we enjoy life by recognizing gifts instead of grasping to gain. So freeing to see this book as a book that’s actually out to free you instead of depress you. Such a great way to understand the gospel as well, Christ has given us everything and we can freely live out of that. Being a Christian is freeing not constraining and Ecclesiastes shows that if you’re willing to read brutally honest truths about how small, unimportant, forgettable, and out of control that we are. I can confidently say I love Jesus more because of this book and the book of Ecclesiastes.
Gibson approaches Ecclesiastes with the perspective that life is lived when we live in light of our death and that we enjoy life by recognizing gifts instead of grasping to gain. So freeing to see this book as a book that’s actually out to free you instead of depress you. Such a great way to understand the gospel as well, Christ has given us everything and we can freely live out of that. Being a Christian is freeing not constraining and Ecclesiastes shows that if you’re willing to read brutally honest truths about how small, unimportant, forgettable, and out of control that we are. I can confidently say I love Jesus more because of this book and the book of Ecclesiastes.
March 22, 2025
This is a great book on Ecclesiastes, a faithful guide though it focuses on how the main themes of the book are developed and therefore does not comment on every verse. God used this book during my devotions to coincide with certain conversations and life events that drove the truth of Ecclesiastes deeper into my heart--in a way that could permanently change my everyday posture, or at least I hope so. I'm thankful for the way Gibson exposited the text, for his illustrations and the ways he brought other commentaries to bear. God uses the bitter medicine of Ecclesiastes to produce sweet and good fruit for us to enjoy.
January 1, 2026
Este es un librazo. Eclesiastés es un hermoso libro y este texto lo explica muy bien.
July 17, 2025
Good stuff.
December 4, 2025
A deep dive into Ecclesiastes and the perspective shift it can offer in a world that says "this is all there is." I was challenged and helped to think about my life from the end backward. This definitely deserves a deeper dive, perhaps with a group as there are excellent reflection questions and so much to unpack.
March 13, 2023
What a faithful and encouraging perspective on Ecclesiastes! Learning to live by preparing to die is how the teacher would have us live.
June 30, 2024
Der Hype um das Buch war mir zu krass (allein auf GoodReads über 2000 Reviews). War ein nettes Buch, dass das Predigerbuch für den pastoralen Kontext fruchtbar macht. Nette Ausführungen, waren aber weder besonders neu oder revolutionär noch besonders deep. Mir schienen die Hebräischen Denkwelten zu wenig betont worden zu sein - stattdessen sprach er zB immer wieder vom sündigen Menschen - was eine eher untypische Redewendung für die Hebräische Bibel ist. Insgesamt gebe ich dem Buch eine 3,5.
March 16, 2025
This book, in conjunction with dwelling on the message of Ecclesiastes, really helped to reorient my thoughts about life, or rather, death. We are but a breath, and believe it or not, remembering this truth can help one see beauty all around.
"Fear God and keep His commandments, for this man's all."
"Fear God and keep His commandments, for this man's all."
August 31, 2017
To die well means I realize death is not simply something that happens to me; it happens to me because I am a sinner. I realize that in a sense I cause my own death. To die well means I realize that every time I see a coffin, it preaches to me that the world is broken and fallen and under the curse of death-and I am a part of it. It means I realize that I am not owed three score years and ten by God. It is only because of his mercy that I am not consumed today. To die well means realizing that from the day I was born I lived under the sentence of death, and I am amazed that God spared me as long as he did. It means I have been heading for death from the moment I was born. It means I have been laying up treasure in heaven, and that is where my heart is. To die well means everything I have in this world I hold with open hands because I love Jesus more than anything and anyone else, and I am happy to go home to him.
Ecclesiastes is a great teacher of reality and facing our limitations. I will be honest, the beginning of this study challenged me that it gripped my heart in that I am holding on to things that have no eternal value. That life is a gift and how do I value that gift from the creator. How easy it is for us to know this in our head but to live it in the mundane of life can be challenging. Our search for significance and happiness many times is a search of self instead of a pursuit of God and who he is.
Is our pursuits in what we gain and not the gift? Think on that for a moment. Do not answer that quickly. After reading this study, you may have a different answer than before your started. There is so much wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes - what appears gloom and doom is really joy and glory. About what true enjoyment really is. As Gibson so eloquently expresses, you can not truly enjoy what you worship. Enjoyment comes from the putting true reality in place. That God is control and worthy to be worshipped. The man who makes sex his God, and who worships it, discovers that actually what is normal, pleasurable, soon becomes inadequate and not enough, and he becomes chained to a path whereby he begins to enjoy only perversion-which of course is no enjoyment.
Death is a teacher of how we are to live this life now. What really matters and our reality. Death reorients us to our limitations as creatures and helps us to see God's good gifts right in front of us all the time, each and every day of our lives What if the pleasure of food is a daily joy that we ungratefully overlook? What if our work was never intended to make us successful but simply to make us faithful and generous. What if it is death that shows us that this how we
are meant to live?
If I were to nominate the best Christian book this would be it. It left me undone to the core and stirred my heart. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
Ecclesiastes is a great teacher of reality and facing our limitations. I will be honest, the beginning of this study challenged me that it gripped my heart in that I am holding on to things that have no eternal value. That life is a gift and how do I value that gift from the creator. How easy it is for us to know this in our head but to live it in the mundane of life can be challenging. Our search for significance and happiness many times is a search of self instead of a pursuit of God and who he is.
Is our pursuits in what we gain and not the gift? Think on that for a moment. Do not answer that quickly. After reading this study, you may have a different answer than before your started. There is so much wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes - what appears gloom and doom is really joy and glory. About what true enjoyment really is. As Gibson so eloquently expresses, you can not truly enjoy what you worship. Enjoyment comes from the putting true reality in place. That God is control and worthy to be worshipped. The man who makes sex his God, and who worships it, discovers that actually what is normal, pleasurable, soon becomes inadequate and not enough, and he becomes chained to a path whereby he begins to enjoy only perversion-which of course is no enjoyment.
Death is a teacher of how we are to live this life now. What really matters and our reality. Death reorients us to our limitations as creatures and helps us to see God's good gifts right in front of us all the time, each and every day of our lives What if the pleasure of food is a daily joy that we ungratefully overlook? What if our work was never intended to make us successful but simply to make us faithful and generous. What if it is death that shows us that this how we
are meant to live?
If I were to nominate the best Christian book this would be it. It left me undone to the core and stirred my heart. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
February 20, 2023
David Gibson’s Living Life Backwards is an enjoyable and practical call to live life in light of reality. The reality that Gibson reveals through Ecclesiastes is that life is often elusive, repetitive, seemingly unjust, and that death is inevitable. Rather than escaping these truths, wisdom in the present world involves acknowledging these actualities and embracing one’s finite creatureliness. Living well in light of this, the main premise of the book of Ecclesiastes that Gibson puts forth is this: to realize “life in God’s world is gift, not gain… So embrace life for what it is rather than what you’d like it to be. Live it before God with reverence and obedience. This is the pathway to joy.”
This book provides value to my Christian life in way of refreshment and a charge. There is something freeing about the fact that we are not in control of our life but God is, that our time will come and go quickly, and that all of life is a gift from God in the first place. I tend to live in the future, with the next exciting possibility or task ahead of me, and this book, through the filter of Ecclesiastes, is a call for embodied presence in the here and now. I was struck by how when we take the time to honestly dwell on death and the limitations of life, this actually causes someone to be a person to have depth of soul and depth of character in the present.
This book provides value to my Christian life in way of refreshment and a charge. There is something freeing about the fact that we are not in control of our life but God is, that our time will come and go quickly, and that all of life is a gift from God in the first place. I tend to live in the future, with the next exciting possibility or task ahead of me, and this book, through the filter of Ecclesiastes, is a call for embodied presence in the here and now. I was struck by how when we take the time to honestly dwell on death and the limitations of life, this actually causes someone to be a person to have depth of soul and depth of character in the present.
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