Ecclesiastes 4:1

"Then. looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold. saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them."I looked again" -Solomon once again returns to the subject of evil men prospering (Ecclesiastes 3:16). "Next. observed all the oppression and sadness throughout the earth" (Tay). Oppression here refers to high-handed injustice, offensive selfishness, tyranny under which people cry out for deliverance. Again, we find that. certain kind of "knowledge" has only brought Solomon more pain (Ecclesiastes 1:18).

"I saw the tears of the oppressed" -Not merely was wrong being done, but innocent people were suffering. We might ask, "How could injustice exist under Solomon's reign?" But the truth of the matter is that even the best king or president can't eliminate evil in. country or even in his own administration. Kidner notes, "We may think this attitude defeatist, for there is always much that can be done for sufferers, given the will to do it….Qoheleth is surveying the scene as. whole, and he might well retort that after every conceivable intervention there would still remain innumerable pockets of oppression" (p. 43).

"and that they had no one to comfort them" -this must have been very frustrating for Solomon, seeing that he could do so much on one hand (Ecclesiastes 2:1ff) and so little on the other. With all his wisdom, wealth, and the resources of. nation at his disposal, he couldn't even put. dent in the amount of suffering that happens in this life due to the abuse of power and position.

"and on the side of their oppressors was power" -To this day some very evil individuals have great wealth, power and influence. This is nothing new. "He could add that there is no coincidence in the fact that power is found on the side of the oppressor, since it is power that most quickly breeds the habit of oppression. Paradoxically it limits the possibility of reform itself, because the more control the reformer wields, the more it tends to tyranny" (Kidner p. 44). And even Solomon, the king couldn't break this power. Solomon, like many reformers found his hands bound by red tape, litigation, the courts, etc…as he tried to get evil men out of high places.

"but they had no one to comfort them" -That is, under the sun. The believer knows that God will comfort the righteous who suffer (Romans 8:18). And that God will eventually judge the wicked (Ecclesiastes 3:17; Ecclesiastes 8:12-13; Proverbs 17:15; Ecclesiastes 28:8; James 5:1-6).

Point To Note:

But some people say, "Something can always be done". But Solomon disagrees. Here we are slapped in the face by reality. All the good intentions, good causes, and all the money in the world can't stop oppression! No, we can't fix everything here.