Eccl. 4:1-3:
Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun and behold I 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. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
Is the world a good place? Not from the above point of view. Have you ever heard unbelievers complain about all the suffering in the world? They're right. If the only thing you can see is what is "under the sun" this world is a damnable place. The problem is that they stop short. Scripture acknowledges how bad and fallen this world is, but it goes farther. There is a God who is good that man has kicked against in rebellion (Eccl. 7:29). The world is fallen and broken because of our sin (Rom. 5:12).
If there were no God and no salvation to be found, indeed it would be better to have never been born than to come into this hellish world. But those that adopt this despair show that they haven't found Christ yet. There is a spiritual realm not mentioned in these verses that changes everything. One wonders how much of it Solomon saw. Did he really get it? Do you get it? Or are you just drifting through life as a comfortable American, trying hard to be prosperous and afluent when the world around you is sinking in sea of tears and sin and misery. Don't live off in some "la-la land" playing with your toys and trying to drown out the fact that men superficially say "Peace, peace" when there is no peace. Your world, and your life is fallen.
If you see that and admit that you may have a better chance of finding what life is really about: redemption and reconciliation to God through his Son.
