Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy. – Hosea 14:3

“Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods.” The natural, legal trust, so much esteemed among men, must go. Israel used always to fall back upon Assyria. If Egypt threatened the people, or if any other nation oppressed them, they sent a present to the King of Assyria to come and deliver them. But now they cry, “Asshur shall not save us.” The popular trust of the world is in self-righteousness in its various forms. You were going to be saved by your own repentance, reformation, and future well-doing. Are you trusting in sacraments? Give up so vain a confidence. They are not meant to save, but to instruct those who are saved already. Are you trusting in your hereditary godliness, your birthright religion? Away with so poor a foundation! Are you trusting in your prayers, your giving to the poor, your attendance on sermons, your honesty, your good nature? Set these aside, and cry, “Asshur shall not save us.” All confidences must go save Jesus Christ, whom God has laid in Zion for a foundation stone. On Him must we build, and on none other.

When we come to God we must quit all trust in ourselves of every sort: in our tears, our prayers, our moral life, our excellent instincts, or anything else we must place no trust. “Some trust in horses, and some in chariots, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” It may be, you have fine horses of morality and religiousness, you have many virtues upon which you think you might fairly depend: give up these trusts. Have you been lately trotting out your horses before your own family, and saying to your wife, “I am not like many men. I never drink too much, neither do I treat my household unkindly”? Put away these horses. You cannot come to God riding in pride. Say, “We will not ride upon horses.” Put away every confidence in yourself, in whatever fashion it appears. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2192.cfm