It happened, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath Jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh.
"And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord"  (1 Samuel 7:2). This speaks of the grief and anxiety of Israel following the defeat at Ebenezer, especially of their sorrow that the Lord was not blessing them. "It means that they sought him with great humility."[3]