Ecclesiastes 4:1
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.
The verse pictures the oppressed weeping with no one to comfort them while power rests with their oppressors, setting sufferers without comfort over against oppressors with power. That oppression continues under the sun even after laws change and slavery is abolished, with wealth and earthly power still used against the poor, might set against right among nations and men, and majorities and the state set against conscience in enforcing Sunday against Sabbath keepers. To be without comfort is terrible, yet the oppressed need not remain comfortless, for they may commit their cause to God who comforts those who mourn, and the Comforter has been sent in Christ to bring divine comfort to this injustice. For a time God lets the oppressor have power and prosper while the tide sets against His children, trying the faith of His elect who cry to Him day and night until the Master comes. God sees these wrongs and keeps account of them, so gain extorted from underpaid workers brings His curse, and a nation guilty of hardness toward the distressed while pursuing perishable wealth will have punishment measured to its sins. Each person must consider on which of the two opposing lines he stands, and joined with verses 2-3 the passage also presents death as rest from oppression, so that with Revelation 14:13 it comforts those mourning a faithful believer who rests awaiting the resurrection call.
Oppression Under the Sun
The verse pictures the oppressed weeping with no one to comfort them while power rests with their oppressors, holding together both the imbalance of power and the sufferers' lack of comfort. It presents world suffering as a condition marked at once by injustice and by absence of comfort.
Oppression is a continuing reality under the sun that persists even after laws change, tyrannies fall, and slavery is abolished. Wealth and earthly power are still used to inflict suffering on the poor even when the methods differ from slavery's lash. That continuance is seen where workers are trapped by low wages and lack of opportunity, their labor leaving them unable to provide adequately for their families, with unequal power between employers and employees reflecting the oppressed facing powerful oppressors.
In the corrupted currents of this world might is not on the side of right but power is on the side of the oppressor. The strong nation tramples upon the rights of the weak, and state oppresses state until civil freedom meets its fate. So man behaves to man, as seen in the planter and his slaves, with the strong justifying wrong against the weak because they have power to do it.
The verse also describes religious oppression, where power is on the side of the oppressors and majorities are used against conscience. A religious interest cannot be settled by counting majorities, because on religious matters majorities are set against the oppressed under the sun left in tears with no comforter. This includes a religious-political majority seeking to use the state to enforce Sunday observance against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath and God's commandment, leaving the oppressed without human comfort. It includes wealthy or religious people making servants work on Sunday so they cannot rest or hear a sermon, as part of the wrongs done under the sun where the oppressed suffer without comfort while their oppressors have power.
Comfort for the Oppressed
To be oppressed is hard, but to be oppressed and have no one to bring comfort is especially terrible. The sufferers weep while power lies on the side of those who wrong them, and the twofold repetition of having no comforter sets the oppressed and the oppressors in opposing lines. That doubled cry expresses humanity's desperate need for comfort. Yet the oppressed need not remain comfortless, for they may seek God, commit their cause to Him, and He comforts those who mourn. The need is answered by the Comforter who has been sent.
Solomon grieved over this injustice before Christ came in person to bring divine comfort to it. For a time God permits the oppressor to keep power and to prosper while the weak and oppressed have no comforter. He allows the tide to set against His children and drive them upon the rocks until in anguish of soul they cry mightily for help. This tries His elect who cry to Him day and night, though they live blameless and harmless without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. They are crushed amid false brethren, with foes rising even in the household to condemn the innocent, with conspiracies prospering for a while and the proud called happy.
The trial continues while the evil servant smites his fellow servant, and it brings out true faith, until the Master comes while the smiting is still going on. Taken together with the next two verses, the passage presents death as rest from oppression. Joined with Revelation 14:13, it gives comfort to a family mourning a faithful believer who has died. That believer now rests from the tears and power of oppressors, awaiting the call to resurrection.
Judgment Warns Oppressing Powers
The verse warns that God sees these wrongs and keeps account of injustice, so that money wrung from the oppressed by extortion brings his curse upon its holder. This holds for labor held down by low wages and lack of opportunity, where the power between employer and employee is unequal and a lifetime of toil still leaves a man unable to provide adequately for his family.
A nation may boast of its great institutions while guilty of great sins, yet its punishment will be measured according to its sins, for righteousness alone exalts a nation. Had sin been broken off by righteousness and by showing mercy to the poor, the calamities of war, tumult, and confusion could have been averted. Hardness of heart in chasing perishable wealth while shutting the ears to the cries of the distressed and dying leaves such a nation exposed to those judgments.
The verse sets the oppressed and the oppressors in opposing lines, and each person is called to consider on which side he stands. A religious interest cannot be settled by counting majorities, for on religious matters majorities are not to be trusted as right. Power rests with the oppressors while those oppressed under the sun are left in tears.