Societal upheavals might easily distract God's people from carrying out their part in His work of sanctification. God's people must permit no material objective to dislodge their spiritual goal of reaching God's Kingdom. One particularly dangerous distraction is guilt from failure to overcome. When God's people consider God's profound pity on His stumbling children, such as King David, they realize that He is able and willing to cleanse their own sins, as scarlet as they are. In Ecclesiastes 9:4, Solomon focuses on the hope of a living dog (symbolizing the basest of creatures) over a dead lion. As long as God's people are alive, they have an opportunity to renew their relationship with God through prayer, Bible study, meditation and fasting. If God's people think of themselves as living dogs (which requires a good deal of humility), they can choose not to lie with other dogs anymore. They will not only have fewer fleas, but they will begin to see themselves as brothers and sisters of the Lion of Judah.