1 Samuel 4:7

8. Indeed the Philistines hear the sound of the land and the shouting of the camps, because those who in the holy Church have been refreshed by the cup of the Holy Spirit recognize both the talkativeness and the vain devotion of Jewish perfidy. And because they hold their estimation in the contempt of derision, it is added: (Vers. 6, 7.) And they recognized that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, and the Philistines were afraid, saying: God has come into the camp, and they groaned.

And the Philistines were afraid, saying, "God has come into the camp," etc. The pagans were afraid, recognizing the coming of the true God into the world, to fortify the spiritual camps of the faithful; and the worshippers of many and false gods groaned together …

And the Philistines were afraid,....

In short, the shout raised in the Hebrew camp, on the arrival of the ark, indicated very plainly the prevalence among the Israelites at this time of a belief in national deities--whose influence was local, and whose interest was especially exerted in behalf of the people who adored them.

ISRAEL was out of gear with God. The people had forgotten the Most High and had gone aside to the worship of Baal. They had neglected the things of God and, therefore, they were given up to their enemies. When Jehovah had brought them out of Egypt, He instructed them how they were to live in the land to which He would bring them, and warned them that if they forsook Him, they would be chastened. His words were very plain—"If you will not, for all this, hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." In fulfillment of this threat, the Philistines had been Divinely permitted to make great havoc of the idolatrous Israelites and to hold them in cruel slavery. The only way for them to get out of their trouble was to return to God, who, by His judgments, seemed to say, "Hear you the rod, and who has appointed it." The only cure for their hurt was to go back with repentance and renew their faith and their covenant with God. Then all would have been right. But this is the last thing that men will do! Our minds, by nature, love not spiritual things. We will attend to any outward duty, or to any external rite—but to bring our hearts into subjection to the Divine will, to bow our minds to the Most High and to serve the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul—the natural man abhors! Yet nothing less than this will suffice to turn our captivity. Instead of attempting to get right with God, these Israelites set about devising superstitious means of securing the victory over their foes. In this respect, most of us have imitated them. We think of a thousand inventions, but we neglect the one thing necessary.