Albert Barnes Commentary Hosea 9:5

"What will ye do in the day of solemn assembly, and in the day of the feast of Jehovah?" — Hosea 9:5 (ASV)

What will you do in the solemn day? — Man is content to remain far from God, so that God does not show him that He has withdrawn Himself from him. Man would gladly have the power of drawing near to God in time of calamity, or when he himself chooses. He would gladly have God at his command, as it were, not be at the command of God. God cuts off this hope altogether. He singles out the great festivals, which commemorated His great deeds for His people, as though they had no more share in those mercies. The more solemn the day, the more total man’s exclusion, the more manifest God’s withdrawal.

To one shut out from His service, the days of deepest religious joy became the days of deepest sorrow. Mirth is turned into heaviness. To be deprived of the ordinary daily sacrifice was a source of continual sorrow; how much more, in the days of their gladness (Numbers 10:10), in which they were commanded to rejoice before the Lord, and in which they seemed to have a nearer and more familiar access to God. True, having separated themselves from the temple, they had no right to celebrate these feasts, which were to be held in the place which God had chosen to place His name there. Man, however, clings to the shadow of God’s service when he has parted with the substance. And so God had foretold them that He would make all their mirth to cease (Hosea 2:11).