When the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
"Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods"  (1 Samuel 4:8).  The Philistines held the ancient belief that there were many gods, each one of which was particularly interested in the land where such a god was worshipped.  Such pagan deities were called in each case, "the god of the land."  The great mission of the Chosen People was to bring the knowledge of the One True and Eternal Almighty God to the pagan nations around them, but that sacred mission was very poorly served by the foolish action of Israel's elders in this episode.