Adams was in a hurry and ordered his horse drawn carriage to wait for him in front of his house. The horses were spooked before he got in the carriage, and the carriage was destroyed in an accident. Pondering what could have happened to him , Adams retreated to Psalm 20's injunctions against trusting in chariots and horses.
Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life
exposition, idolatry, materialism, technology