Ecclesiastes 5:8 says, If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.  Solomon was saying that we should not marvel at the oppression of the poor and the perverting of justice.  We don't have to look far today to see this going on.  We see it even in poor countries, where even the poorest are exploited, and in rich countries, where the poorest are either ignored or exploited.  We see justice, as it is called, for the rich being entirely different than justice for the poor.  God is not fooled by this type of oppression and justice.  One day, true justice, the justice of God, will prevail.  Now, I guess this would be more my opinion or understanding of this warning, but I believe Solomon was warning us to care more for the poor and oppressed than the rich and famous.  We often spend more time being concerned with the lives of those who are famous simply because they are rich than we do for the child who is starving.  We say the rich deserve what they have and the poor just need to work harder.  Yet, God says that it is the responsibility of His people to protect the poor and defenseless.  As long as we see material blessings simply for our benefit and enjoyment, with no concern for the less fortunate, then we are not following God's will for us.  Verse nine says, Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.  I believe Solomon, who had amassed so much wealth, was now realizing that wealth was to be shared by all and not hoarded by a few, even kings . We can spend all our time trying to accumulate and keep everything for ourselves, but this is not what God intended.  Verse ten is a further warning, stating, He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.  Those that love riches will never be satisfied, and may even begin to believe they deserve them, but this will eventually amount to nothing.  Again, it is what we do for God that really counts.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.  Solomon was still speaking about prayer.  When we are busy with the everyday business of life, we often have strange and confusing dreams.  Solomon said the fool was the same way, thinking that a multitude or words would make him sound wise.  There is a saying that the less we know about a subject, the louder we argue for our point of view, and the longer we speak about it.  We can be sure that when it comes to prayer, we know less than God does, so we do not need to try and convince Him of our point.  We need to come to God with a humble and contrite heart.  Verse four says, When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.  Solomon was warning against making empty vows to God.  We often attempt to bargain with God by making promises to Him.  We tell God that if He will answer our prayer, then we will live totally for Him, but if the prayer is answered, then we begin to ignore our promise.  We need to quickly pay what we vow to God.  Otherwise, we are acting as a fool.  Verse five says, Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.  If we are not going to follow through with our vows to God, we are better off not making them.  Verse six continues, Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?  This is a warning against making false promises to God.  We may even mean them when we make them, but then decide we promised too much.  Matthew Henry says the angel could be our guardian angel or a reference to Christ as the Angel of the covenant.  I personally see it as a reference to angels as messengers of God.  Our vows are to God, not His messengers, and we should never attempt to go back on them.  God will be right to be angry at such promises.  Verse seven concludes, For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.  We may claim God spoke to us in a dream and make false promises based on that dream, but Solomon warns that our first priority is to fear, to have an overpowering awe of God, in all we do.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.  Solomon had shown the inability of the things of this world, power, wisdom, wealth and pleasure, to bring purpose to life, and he was now pointing people to worshipping God as the way to purpose in life.  I believe he was saying that we not only need to come to the house of God, but that we need to come earnestly.  We need to be ready to hear what God has to say.  If we bring sacrifices without even listening to what God is saying to us, we are as a fool.  Too often, people go to the house of God to be seen and heard and not to listen.  We are to go to hear God speak to us.  When we truly go for that purpose, we will never be disappointed.  Verse two warns us, Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.  Solomon was telling people that when we come to God in prayer, we must come with reverence.  They were to speak from the heart and not just continually utter words that had no real emotion to them.  The same is true today.  God wants us to bring our sincere concerns to Him, but He already knows our needs.  When our prayers become more about why did you let this happen or I want this or that God, then I believe we are speaking rashly.  We are to come to God humbly, seeking His will and guidance.  Solomon also said that we should let our words be few.  Matthew Henry said this was not to say that prayers shouldn't ever be long, but that they should be sincere and from the heart.  We do not need rehearsed prayers, but sincere prayers.  We are speaking to God, Who is already aware of what we need, and not to people who are listening to what we have to say.  I personally don't believe words from the heart as we speak to God are ever rehearsed.  Prayer should never be a performance, like an actor reciting lines.  It must be heart felt communication between a person and God, and must include our listening to God.  Prayer is not a shopping list, but a seeking of God's will for our life.

Ecclesiastes 4:13 says, Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.  Solomon knew what it meant to be king, and he was getting older and often had failed to be admonished because he had the power to do anything he desired to do.  He said it was better to be a poor, wise child than to be an old and foolish king.  We need to realize that wisdom comes only from God, and if we begin to feel that just because we have the power to do whatever we want that we have the right to do so, without acting under God's leadership, then we will one day end up realizing how foolish we are.  A true leader realizes that he needs to listen to others and even if he has great wisdom, he doesn't always know the best way to do everything.  Verse fourteen says, For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.  Solomon seems to be referring to Joseph when speaking of the one who came out of prison to reign.  Joseph was also noted for his wisdom, but he never truly became self centered.  Solomon was born to his kingdom, was one of the wisest men ever born, but he to often focused on his own desires.  Since he could find no reason in life, he saw himself as having become poor.  Verse fifteen says, I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.  Matthew Henry says Solomon was speaking of a king having an heir, who people would soon look to for leadership, as the old king was basically ignored if he was no longer the real authority.  I think it also applies to every passing generation.  Our children take over the leadership roles as we begin to fail in strength, and that is as it should be.  That is why it is so important to teach our children about God.  Verse sixteen concludes, There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.  Solomon seemed to be saying that just as most of the people who came before were soon forgotten, so would all those that came after.  If we are looking at life only in the terms of this world, it can truly amount to nothing.  We, as followers of Christ, are to look at the world from God's perspective.  Only then can we find hope everlasting.

Ecclesiastes 4:7 says, Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.  Solomon was still looking for something to give him purpose, and nothing in this world was providing it.  As people look for meaning today, outside the will of God, they are going to be just as disappointed.  Verse eight says, There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.  I believe Solomon was saying that a person who lives by himself and has no children may really question why they are working so hard.  It is not that they don't want to share their blessings in this case, but there is no no one to share them with, and this can cause a feeling of despair.  Still, they could share with others less fortunate and receive a blessing from it.  Verse nine says, Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  Man was not intended to live alone.  From creation, men and women were designed to be together, to get married and bring completion to one another.  They see the good reward for their labor as the share in it.  Verse ten says, For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.  We have seen the commercial that says, Help, I have fallen and can't get up.  This applies to being out working alone as well.  If we are in an accident, we may not be able to get up, but if someone is with us, they can help.  I think this applies to emotionally as well .  If we are down, then we have someone to lift us up.  Verse eleven says, Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?  Now we might just say turn up the heat or turn up the blanket, but they did not have that advantage, and neither do a lot of people in the world today.  They need each other to just stay warm.  Verse twelve says, And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  Just having one stand with us in the adversities of life make us much stronger than standing alone.

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.