I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee
God’s depriving dispensation towards men
Here the Almighty is represented as taking away from Israel many things they greatly valued.
God’s providence deprives as well as bestows. Depriving dispensations are--
I. Very painful. The things He takes away are--
1. The temporally valuable. Whatever is dearest to the heart--property, friends, health, fame--is the most painful to lose. The other class of things He takes away are--
2. The morally vile. Here are “witchcrafts, soothsayers, graven images,” etc. Whatever man indulges in that is wrong--false worship, all the sorceries of intellectual or physical pleasure--must go, the sooner the better.
II. They are very useful. God takes away temporal property from a man in order that he may get spiritual wealth; and often does a man’s secular fall lead to his spiritual rise. He takes away physical health from a man in order that he may get spiritual; and often do the diseases of the body lead to the care of the soul. (Homilist.)
