The Ark is brought to the men of Kirjathjearim who consecrate a priest to look after it and the Ark stays there for 20 years. After this time the people begin to lament, yes they have the Ark back but the prescence of the Lord is still absent and they know this so they began at last to seek the God of the Ark. The Lord sends Samuel to them who speaks to them what is in the heart of God, they should turn away from their idolatry and worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, who are the modern gods of money and sex. The people heeded the word of the Lord and put away the idolatry and repented and lamented over their sin before to Lord. The Philistines saw this as a sign of weakness and decided they would finally defeat the Israelites. But the Lord was on their side now and the Philistines couldn't even get to the battle before the Lord struck them with fear and the Israelites won without even going into battle.
