As we start out Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, we note that this section of scripture is entitled “evil under the sun”. These are the various evils in the world that Solomon observed throughout the course of his life, 

Ecc 4:1  Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.

Not much has changed since then, there are still oppressive governments now that wastefully spend at the top while tax payers have to give half of their income up.  The same can be said about modern day corporations and banks.  Unless you are in the top rung of the food chain, you pretty much have to do what you’re told.  

In the following verses, Solomon laments the evils of the world and concludes that some folks are better off not even being born:

Ecc 4:2  So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

Ecc 4:3  But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

In the western world we live in, the oppression probably isn’t as extreme, but if we think back to the Jews of the holocaust that happened not even 100 years ago, surely many of those poor souls had that thought, what if I had never been born.

As we have learned in previous verses, man is inherently evil, whether it was in the time of Solomon from 700 BC, or even the evil dictatorships that flourish in other parts of the world today, man is always trying to murder other men and make them suffer.  

Even us, while we may not have committed murderous actions, we have likely had murderous thoughts at one point or another.  That is the beauty of the Gospel message, it opens up our eyes to our sin, and teaches us to hate our sinful ways and try and be more like Christ.  All Glory to Him.