Charles Spurgeon Commentary Hosea 11:9

"I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in wrath." — Hosea 11:9 (ASV)

I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; —

What a mercy this is for us! If the Lord had been man, he would have cast us off long ago; but, as he is God he is infinitely patient, and he loves to forgive: I am God, and not man; —

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man;

Our hope lies in the fact that God is God. Sometimes, that truth is a terror to men; they are distressed at the thought of the great and holy God, yet in this truth is their only hope of salvation. The Lord says, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not man.

The Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city.

That is, the Lord says, "I will not come into it to see all its iniquities, lest in my wrath I strike and destroy it." How tenderly does God bear with wicked men! How great is his long-suffering!

How graciously he seems to close his eyes, as if he would not see that which must bring upon us swift destruction if he looked upon it in his righteous anger!

I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city.

Remember that when God entered into Sodom and saw its sin, then he destroyed it; but he determines to have pity upon Samaria, and not to enter into it lest, seeing it, he should feel compelled to destroy it.