Ecclesiastes 4:4 says, Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.  Solomon said when he then considered all the right work, all the things that neighbors envied, it still amounted to nothing.   He had just talked about the corruption in the world, but now he said even those who came by their possessions honestly would be envied.  Even as God's people, we often look around us at others who are better off and think that if we only had what they have, we would be happy.  Solomon saw that this was not the case, and so should we.  Again, the things of this world, even when acquired honestly, will never bring true satisfaction.  Verse five says, The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.  I believe  Solomon was saying that those who just sit idly by without being willing to work are as a fool.  They end up so hungry they feel like eating their own flesh.  We were created with a purpose, and that is to serve God and take care of His world.  When we decide that we have no purpose and the world somehow owes us a living, we are not living by God's plan.  No matter how bad, or even how good, the world becomes, our purpose never changes.  Verse six says, Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.  I believe Solomon was warning against wanting more and more of material things.  When we have our needs met, we should be satisfied and learn to be happy and live a contented life.  It is when we want a double hand full, or more than we need, that problems begin to arise.  This does not mean that we are not to be ambitious, but that we are to be ambitious about doing the will of God.  We are never to be overly concerned with attaining and keeping material things.  If we are, this will only cause us worry.

Ecclesiastes 4:1 says, So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.  Oppression is nothing new in the world.  Solomon began to look beyond his own life to those around him, and he saw many living in oppression without any comforter.  The oppressors had the power, and still do today.  We, as followers of Christ, are called on to help the oppressed, not to look to keep them in oppression.  If we, as His followers, lose our compassion for others, where will they find compassion?  Verse two says, Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.  Solomon said those oppressed who had died were better off than those still living.  If we look at life from a purely physical point of view, then death would indeed bring relief from oppression.  If we look at life from a spiritual point of view, then if we are God's people, the same is true.  This does not mean we are to end our lives to end oppression.  We just know that this life with all its problems is but temporary.  Verse three says, Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.  Solomon said it was better to have never been born than to have to live in this evil world.  There are people today who have the same attitude since they only see life from a material perspective.  It can be applied to their own life with the thought that they would have been better off to have never been born, or to the bringing of another life into this world.  We, as followers of Christ, can never allow this to be our attitude.  We are born with a purpose and life is a gift from God.  As long as there is life, no matter how bad the world may be, there is hope and our purpose is to live to glorify God.

Ecclesiastes 3:18 says, I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.  Solomon saw mankind as being nothing more than beasts outside the will of God.  Some might see this as Solomon saying that there is no God so mankind is no better than the beast, who live in this world alone.  Taking in context, though, I believe he was referring to the way people live their lives outside the will of God.  We act no better than the beasts, seeking only self gratification without concern for others.  Until God is manifest in our lives, we are never what God intended us to be. Of course, denying that relationship does not change the fact that we are different than the other animals because we have an everlasting soul.  Verse nineteen says, For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.  Once again, man and beast both suffer the same fate in this world.  They both die, so if we are looking for superiority in this life alone, then all truly is vanity.  It is only in our relationship to God that we are different than the beasts.  Our soul lives on.  Verse twenty says, All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  We were made from the dust and this body will return to dust if the Lord tarries.  We may take pride in our looks and the way our bodies are built, but they are but temporary vessels.  Verse twenty one says, Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?  We do not see the spirit of man go upward at death, nor the spirit of the beast die in the earth.  We must accept it by faith in God Who created and made man more than the animals.  Verse twenty two concludes, Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?  We cannot control what happens in this world after we are gone, so we should be content and enjoy what God has blessed us with.  Only those things done for God will have everlasting value.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 says, And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.  Solomon saw a place for judgment, and this has not changed.  There was wickedness even in the seat of judgment.  When people went to the courts of men to receive justice, it was often perverted.  Today, those who are rich and powerful seem to live under a different set of rules than do the weak and powerless.  This is not true of God's judgment.  He will always be fair in His judgment, and we will always come up short, no matter how good or how evil we are.  Verse seventeen says, I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.  Solomon was known for his wisdom in judgment, but he knew that the ultimate judge was God.  We may be able to judge a person's actions, but God judges that person's motives as well.  When we see the injustice in the world today, even in the courts of law, we can rest assured that this is not the final judgment.  God is the ultimate, everlasting authority, and if we remain true to Him, the evil of this world will never overcome us.  We are set free from the power of sin by our faith in the salvation of Christ.  This does not give us a free pass to sin, though.  Just knowing that our sins, all our sins for all time, are forgiven doesn't mean we are free to sin and that it won't ultimately matter.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are called to an even higher standard.  We realize that God will hold us accountable not only for our actions but for our thoughts as well.  For that reason we should always put God's will first.

Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.  Solomon may have felt that everything done in this world was vanity, but he still felt that we should enjoy the fruits of our labor, since it was a gift of God.  It is when we begin to feel that we are doing everything on our own instead of everything being a blessing from God that we begin to have problems.  We start to look to the things of the world to bring satisfaction and feel that everything God blesses us with is our to use as we see fit.  This was never God's intention.  He blesses us so that we may do His work and help others.  Verse fourteen says, I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.  Solomon said the things of God are everlasting.  God created everything for a purpose, and the purpose of mankind is to love God above all else.  God gave us free will, so we may choose the things of this world over the will of God for our lives, but it does not change our true purpose.  The things we do for God last forever, and the things we do for material reasons will pass away.  The question then becomes which do we put the most emphasis on.  If all our time and energy are spent gaining and maintaining the things of this world, we, like Solomon, are going to see the futility of it all.  We must put our effort into the things of God.  His purpose for us is never going to change, no matter how much or how little we are blessed with in this world.  Then verse fifteen says, That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.  When we feel that the world has gotten so much worse or so much better than in the past, God says it is as it always has been.  We can only come to God in faith through Christ, and our past can neither save us or prevent our being saved.  As Solomon said earlier, there truly is nothing new under the sun.  God is never taken by surprise by the actions of humanity.

Verse eight ended with a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.  Ecclesiastes 3:9 says, What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?  Solomon was still questioning what we gain by working in this world.  After all the contrasts of the things that life offers, Solomon was again questioning what difference it all made.  Once more Solomon was looking at life from the temporary nature that it has.  If we are labouring simply for material gain, we will find the same to be true.  Only those things done for God have everlasting value. Verse ten says, I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.  God made man to care for the earth, and after the fall, He said man would toil for his living.  We were never intended to just sit back and enjoy the things of the earth, but were created for God to use us for His purpose.  So, if we are living and working outside the will of God, there is no profit in anything we do.  Verse eleven says, He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.  Solomon could not understand all the work that God was doing in the world, and neither can we.  We live in this temporary world, and cannot understand all the works of God, but we can rest assured that He is in control and that His works are indeed beautiful.  Verse twelve concludes, I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.  There really is no good in living simply for the things of this world.  We are called to rejoice in God and do good, which is to follow God's will, in our lives.  That is the only way to true happiness.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a very familiar passage of scripture, though not everyone may know that it is scripture.  ECC3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  ECC3:02 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  ECC3:03 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  ECC3:04 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  ECC3:05 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  ECC3:06 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  ECC3:07 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  ECC3:08 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.  It seems best to print the verses all together and look at them individually.  There really is a season for everything, and though we don't always acknowledge it there is a purpose for everything.  We may not always see it, but the purpose is there.  There is a time to be born and a time to die.  It is what we do between those two that matters.  Planting and plucking are variations of the same.  We plant gardens and wait for the harvest.  The time to kill we often are to good at, but the time to heal we often forget.  I think we have to be very careful about when we say it is time to kill, though.  A time to kill may apply more to killing for food than killing each other.   Sometimes things must be broken down before they can be built up again.  We may have to break down old walls and habits to build up new works of God.  There are indeed times when tears and mourning are appropriate, but through Christ there is even more reason for joy.  This world is not the end.  The contrasts continue in the next four verses, and we can see all this in the world today.  Nothing stays constantly good or bad, but God remains the same through it all.  We just need to ensure that through it all that we are working for His glory under His leadership.