ויצו את שלמה ... אנכי הלך בדרך כל הארץ ... (מלכים א' ב-ב)
In his final days, Dovid HaMelech advised his newly crowned son, Shlomo, on how to run the kingdom, stating, “I am going in the ways of the world...” While at first glance Dovid HaMelech’s words might appear no different than any other elderly person on their deathbed, Dovid was anything but a typical person. So what indeed is the underlying message of Dovid’s cryptic words?
The Ozherover Rebbe, R’ Moshe Yechiel Epstein zt”l (Be’er Moshe) explains that Chazal tell us that one can live for many, many years, but only have few actual days of worthwhile accomplishment. Dovid, on the opther hand, had a full lifetime’s worth of accomplishments, and his days were always full of Torah study, adherence to mitzvos, and many halachic, military, andkpolitical accomplishments on behlaf of the Jewish people. Although Dovid HaMelech was only seventy years old at his time of death, he became frail and infirm. This was due to the many battles and wars he waged throughout his reign which sapped whatever youth he had left in him and sped up the aging process.
Yet, Dovid’s message for all generations is deep. While everyone eventually reaches the end of his life and passes on to a better world, it is what we choose to do with our lives prior to death that makes all the difference. A person must work hard while he still can, doing mitzvos and learning Torah, because before we even realize it, our day of reckoning will come and then we will all “go in the ways of the world.