He turneth rivers into a wilderness. God can, and does, by the operation of his providence, turn lands naturally fertile—lands abounding with streams—into arid wastes, either by such a physical catastrophe as that which blasted the cities of the plain (Genesis 19:24, Genesis 19:25), or by such moral changes as have turned Babylonia from a garden into a desert, a miserable howling wilderness (comp.
Psalms 13:1-6 :15-22; Psalms 1:2; Jeremiah 1:13-15, 38-40; Jeremiah 51:13, Jeremiah 51:37-43, etc.). And the water springs into dry ground. The phrase is varied, but the meaning is the same. God has full control over nature, and can either take back his blessings, or render them of no avail.