Good Friday

It’s Good Friday, and we conclude our Lenten meditations with the closing stanzas 54 – 62 of George Herbert’s poem “The Sacrifice.” If you clicked that link, you got the original version of the poem with 1633 spellings. I have been posting my version with current spellings. I now make that version available to you in its entirety: “The Sacrifice,” by George Herbert with modernized spellings.

  • Shame tears my soul, my body many a wound;
  • Sharp nails pierce this, but sharper that confound;
  • Reproaches, which are free, while I am bound.
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • Now heal thy self, Physician; now come down.
  • Alas! I did so, when I left my crown
  • And fathers smile for you, to feel his frown:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • In healing not myself, there doth consist
  • All that salvation, which ye now resist;
  • Your safety in my sickness doth subsist:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • Betwixt two thieves I spend my utmost breath,
  • As he that for some robbery suffereth.
  • Alas! what have I stolen from you?  Death.
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • A king my title is, prefixed on high;
  • Yet by my subjects am condemned to die
  • A servile death in servile company:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • They give me vinegar mingled with gall,
  • But more with malice: yet, when they did call,
  • With Manna, Angels’ food, I fed them all:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • They part my garments, and by lot dispose
  • My coat, the type of love, which once cured those
  • Who sought for help, never malicious foes:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • Nay, after death their spite shall further go;
  • For they will pierce my side, I full well know;
  • That as sin came, so Sacraments might flow:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • But now I die; now all is finished.
  • My woe, man’s weal: and now I bow my head.     [weal = wealth, common good]
  • Only let others say, when I am dead,
  •                                               Never was grief like mine.“The Sacrifice” by George Herbert, stanzas 54 – 62.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots…And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour…And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Matthew 27.33 – 45, 50, ESV)

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” (John 19.32 – 37, ESV)

Maundy Thursday

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. (John 13.1 – 7, ESV)

…Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. (John 13.21 – 26, ESV)

Jesus washed the feet of Peter who denied him and Judas who betrayed him.

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26.26 – 29, ESV)

Paul brings it home, quoting Jesus:

Do this in remembrance of me…Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11.23 – 26, ESV)

The Shroud of Turin

Last week I attended a presentation on the Shroud of Turin given by Dr. Rolf Enger, Colonel, USAF (retired), Professor Emeritus of Physics at the US Air Force Academy, follower of Jesus. I knew Rolf back in the 1990s. Rolf has a doctorate in Laser Physics/Holography and was on a team that investigated the Shroud. This account of Rolf’s presentation makes for a fitting Holy Week meditation.

This short introductory paragraph on Wikipedia is all I had known about the Shroud:

The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus’s bodily image is miraculously imprinted.

Rolf’s presentation included these facts, also in the Wikipedia article:

The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black and white photographic negative than in its natural sepia color, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud…The documented history of the shroud goes back to 1357.

Full-length image of the Shroud, which is 14 feet 5 inches by 3 feet 7 inches or, as Rolf said, 8 cubits by 2 cubits.

Here are my takeaways from Rolf’s presentation:

  • “I don’t know if the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ…We will never be able to prove that it is.”
  • The image on the Shroud is like a photographic negative, something Rolf’s younger audiences have never heard of!
  • Rolf’s team investigated the question: Is the image on the Shroud a painting? They determined it is not a painting but a scorch.
  • The team also investigated the question: Are the stains on the Shroud bloodstains? Answer: yes.
  • There are mysteries. For example, the Shroud contained spores from 49 different plants, 33 of which grow only in Palestine, the southern steppes of Turkey, or Istanbul. If the Shroud were created in the 1300s in Europe, and has been in Europe since 1357, how did those spores get on it?

Rolf told us that the image on the Shroud is a crucified man, consistent with the gospel accounts of Jesus:

  • The image was a crucified Jew, a mature adult
  • The face had been beaten.
  • The nose was broken, consistent with the victim falling while carrying the crossbeam.
  • There were marks of puncture wounds consistent with the crown of thorns, which could have been 2 – 3 inches long
  • The victim was scourged – the marks are there. Romans weren’t limited to 40 lashes. Lashes were distributed across the whole body, consistent with “punishment” but not execution.
  • The victim in the image had marks in the wrist, consistent with being nailed to a cross. There is no thumb image on the Shroud. The thumb would have contracted.
  • It was a criminal’s death but a rich person’s shroud. Compare Isaiah 53.

Rolf closed with thoughts on the importance of the Shroud of Turin to a Christian:

I told my kids that I was 7 before I had a TV. My kids were incredulous: “What did you do?” We listened to the radio and imagined…

It doesn’t matter if the Shroud is real. It helps us imagine. The crucifixion is the most documented event in history. And there’s no way 11 people would go to their death for a story that wasn’t true. We don’t need the cloth.

Crucifixion is an incredibly painful, inhumane form of execution. God could have sent Jesus at any time in history. But the emphasis is “no greater love.”

When you think about the shroud, focus on God’s love. God is saying, “I love you.” God wants to have fellowship with us and wants it so badly that he willing to put his son through this kind of death. John 3.16.

Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday are approaching. This is a time to focus on what Jesus did for us. It’s not enough to “believe” like the demons did. How strong is my faith? Commitment involves turning toward God, away from the world. Make that commitment. Look at the price he paid for you.

Jesus said:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15.13 – 14, ESV)

Dr. Rolf Enger, speaking at Monument Community Presbyterian Church, March 20, 2024. Rolf was kind enough to check a draft of this blog for accuracy. Any remaining errors are my responsibility.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

As we move into Holy Week, it’s useful to remember that Jesus died on the cross because none of us is good enough to save ourselves.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8, ESV)

I’m reminded of the memorial service for astronaut Jim Irwin. I’ve written about it before, but it’s worth retelling the main point. The service was preached by Nicky Cruz, former New York City gang member whose story was told in the book Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson. Here’s what Nicky said as best I can remember – I was there:

The miracle is not that I was saved by grace. I was a Puerto Rican street kid. I’ve killed people in gang warfare. I understand grace. I needed grace. The miracle is that Jim Irwin, a good, white, Baptist kid from Pittsburgh, understood grace. – Nicky Cruz at the memorial service for astronaut Jim Irwin

Paul summed it up:

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3.5 – 7, NIV)

“What more could a man ask?”

I was processing with Ray Bandi the recent homegoing of friend and Navigator colleague Mike Schmid, who passed on his 72nd birthday, March 5 after a four or five-year battle with cancer. A complete obit is here, including the fact that he was able to speak to all of The Navigators Military Ministry staff in Dallas in November. An encouraging friend. A good man.

Anyway, back to my friend Ray who knew Mike when they were both at the Air Force Academy. Ray is class of ’72; Mike, ’74. Ray was talking about another Academy graduate who was in the Navigators’ ministry there, Gary Combs, class of ’69.

Ray said that Gary contracted a fatal disease in his 20s, not that long after graduation, and set up a reunion of Academy grads who had been in the Navigators ministry while they were students. This would have been in the early to mid-1970s, 50 years ago, and Ray still remembers clearly what Gary told them:

Don’t be sad for me. I know the Lord, and he used me. What more could a man ask? What more could a man ask? – Gary Combs, US Air Force Academy, Class of 1969, shortly before his death as a young man

I don’t know if Mike Schmid was at that meeting, but he would have said the same thing. “I know the Lord, and he used me…” for 50 years to disciple men who are following Jesus and discipling others. Mike’s was a life well-lived.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot, journal entry, October 28, 1949.

Jim was killed in Ecuador by the very people he and four others were trying to reach, the Huaorani Indians of Ecuador, on January 8, 1956.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (The Apostle Paul, Philippians 1.21, ESV)

Sixth Sunday of Lent

Sixth Sunday of Lent…and also Palm Sunday. But it’s hard to get excited about Palm Sunday because I think it’s quite likely that some of the crowds of the Triumphal Entry…

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21.9 – 11, ESV)

…were among this crowd:

Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 27.20 – 23, ESV)

For sure, many, if not most, in the Palm Sunday crowd were erroneously expecting Jesus to lead a charge to overthrow the Romans. The disciples were still expecting that in Acts 1!

So let’s get right back to our Lenten meditations with stanzas 48 – 53 of George Herbert’s poem “The Sacrifice.” 

(The bullets allow me to single-space the lines.)

  • They lead me in once more, and  putting then
  • Mine own clothes on, they lead me out again.
  • Whom devils fly, thus is he tossed of men:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • And now weary of sport, glad to engross
  • All spite in one, counting my life their loss,
  • They carry me to my most bitter cross:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • O all ye who pass by, behold and see;
  • Man stole the fruit, but I must climb the tree;
  • The tree of life to all, but only me:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • Lo, here I hang, charged with a world of sin,
  • The greater world o’ th’ two; for that came in
  • By words, but this by sorrow I must win:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • Such sorrow as, if sinful man could feel,
  • Or feel his part, he would not cease to kneel.
  • Till all were melted, though he were all steel:
  •                                               Was ever grief like mine?
  • But, O my God, my God! why leav’st thou me,
  • The son, in whom  thou dost delight to be?
  • My God, my God ——
  •                                               Never was grief like mine.“The Sacrifice” by George Herbert, stanzas 48 – 53.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27.31, ESV)

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. (Matthew 27.35 – 36, ESV)

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27.45 – 46, ESV)

A King?

We come to 1 Samuel 8, a transition from the time of the judges, ad hoc rulers, to the monarchy. It begins with the failure of Samuel’s sons:

When Samuel got to be an old man, he set his sons up as judges in Israel…But his sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice. Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.” (1 Samuel 8.1 – 5, MSG)

Appoint us a king because your sons aren’t doing a good job. This demand makes no sense. So when there’s a king, and he dies leaving the kingdom to his son(s), the king’s sons will do a good job?

GOD answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.” (1 Samuel 8.7, MSG)

The people’s idea was that our “king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles” (verses 19, 20). Samuel told them the truth about a king in this prescient paragraph:

So Samuel told them, delivered GOD’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates.

  • He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons.
  • He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and
  • others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury.
  • He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks.
  • He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends.
  • He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy.
  • Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use.
  • He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and
  • you’ll end up no better than slaves. (1 Samuel 8.10 – 17, MSG, bulleted for clarity)

It is always thus. People like to have a king, and this is what kings do. The Russians deposed the Tsars and are now ruled by “presidents” instead: men like Lenin, Stalin,…, Putin. See the difference? Adolf Hitler was called “Der Fuhrer” – the leader – but the “Fuhrer” concept already existed in Germany. Hitler just put himself into it. The US Presidency has ballooned into a royal position of sorts, quite unlike when, say, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated:

When [the inauguration] was over, he simply walked back. Returning to the boarding house late for dinner, Jefferson took one of the only remaining seats at the far end of the table. Given the occasion, someone offered him a better seat near the fireplace. Staying true to his egalitarian platform, Jefferson refused. From an official account of Jefferson’s inauguration

God is clear about the dangers of not looking to God as our leader but looking to men instead.

The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect GOD to answer. (1 Samuel 8.18, MSG, bulleted for clarity)

It’s chilling that the nation of Israel wanted a king so they could “be like everyone else.” But when God sent them their true King, they rejected him, the very series of events we commemorate starting tomorrow.

They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?” The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.” (John 19.15, MSG)

One Brick at a Time

Sometimes I read something that’s too good not to pass on. This is from Sahil Bloom’s The Friday Five, February 23, 2024.

In 2002, Charlie Rose interviewed Will Smith on his television show.

During the interview, Smith tells a story from his childhood about his father asking him and his little brother to rebuild a 16×30 wall on the front of his shop.

The task was understandably daunting for the two boys:

“I remember standing back looking at that wall saying, there’s gonna be a hole here, forever.”

But a year and a half of daily work later, they completed the wall. Reflecting on the experience, Will Smith offered a piece of timeless wisdom:

“You don’t try to build a wall…You don’t start by saying, I’m going to build the biggest, baddest wall that’s ever been built. You say, I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid…you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.”

This is a powerful mentality for life:

No matter how big the task or project may seem at the start, you just have to lay one brick.

The wall may be daunting, but today’s brick is all that matters.

Extraordinary results are simply the macro result of tens, hundreds, or thousands of tiny daily actions.

Remember: Small things become big things.

So today and all days, let’s lay one brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid… -Sahil Bloom, quoting Charlie Rose, emphasis mine

I wrote about this concept back in August of 2019. It’s worth today’s reminder. Here’s part of a poem from that blog:

Sometimes we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. (2 Corinthians 4.8, Passion Translation)

One Last Battle (for now)

Again, the advantage of going through these Old Testament books at only one chapter per day is that I see stuff I’ve missed before. After the return of the Ark to Israel, there’s an important battle following a time of confession and repentance:

From the time that the Chest came to rest in Kiriath Jearim, a long time passed—twenty years it was—and throughout Israel there was a widespread, fearful movement toward GOD. Then Samuel addressed the house of Israel: “If you are truly serious about coming back to GOD, clean house. Get rid of the foreign gods and fertility goddesses, ground yourselves firmly in GOD, worship him and him alone, and he’ll save you from Philistine oppression.”

They did it. They got rid of the gods and goddesses, the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and gave their exclusive attention and service to GOD.

Next Samuel said, “Get everybody together at Mizpah and I’ll pray for you.” So everyone assembled at Mizpah. They drew water from the wells and poured it out before GOD in a ritual of cleansing. They fasted all day and prayed, “We have sinned against GOD.” (1 Samuel 7.2 – 6, MSG)

And in the middle of the revival, the Philistines attacked:

When the Philistines heard that Israel was meeting at Mizpah, the Philistine leaders went on the offensive. Israel got the report and became frightened—Philistines on the move again! They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray with all your might! And don’t let up! Pray to GOD, our God, that he’ll save us from the boot of the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 7.7, 8, MSG)

And God did:

While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines came within range to fight Israel. Just then GOD thundered, a huge thunderclap exploding among the Philistines. They panicked—mass confusion!—and ran helter-skelter from Israel. Israel poured out of Mizpah and gave chase, killing Philistines right and left, to a point just beyond Beth Car. (1 Samuel 7.10, 11, MSG)

That was some thunderclap! Worth a memorial:

Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it “Ebenezer” (Rock of Help), saying, “This marks the place where GOD helped us.” (1 Samuel 7.12, MSG)

Growing up, I attended a church that sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” nearly every Sunday. I don’t know why. But the song has this stanza:

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

The meaning of the Ebenezer is right in the text of the hymn and the scripture: “Hither by thy help I’m come.” “This marks the place where GOD helped us.”

The Philistines don’t go away forever – “David and Goliath” is coming up in a few weeks. Goliath was a Philistine. It goes on today. Have you heard of the Gaza Strip? You can even see on this current map the towns we just read about: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beth Shemesh where the Ark was taken by the cows. It’s all there and the battle goes on.

But for now, in Samuel’s day…

So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Samuel 7.13, 14, ESV)

And fittingly, this description of God’s ultimate victory even includes the ark of the covenant and thunder!

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Revelation 11.15 – 19, ESV)

A Successful Scientific Experiment…so what?

The Philistines, knowing that they cannot stand before the God of the Ark of the Covenant, devise a plan to send it back and do an experiment at the same time:

“So here’s what you do: Take a brand-new oxcart and two cows that have never been in harness. Hitch the cows to the oxcart and send their calves back to the barn. Put the Ark of GOD on the cart. Secure the gold replicas of the tumors and rats that you are offering as compensation in a sack and set them next to the Ark. Then send it off. But keep your eyes on it. If it heads straight back home to where it came from, toward Beth Shemesh, it is clear that this catastrophe is a divine judgment, but if not, we’ll know that God had nothing to do with it—it was just an accident.”

So that’s what they did: They hitched two cows to the cart, put their calves in the barn, and placed the Ark of GOD and the sack of gold rats and tumors on the cart. The cows headed straight for home, down the road to Beth Shemesh, straying neither right nor left, mooing all the way. The Philistine leaders followed them to the outskirts of Beth Shemesh. (1 Samuel 6.7 – 12, MSG)

I’d like to report that having seen this overwhelming evidence (a successful experiment!), the Philistines decided to worship and serve the true God. Nope. The Philistines have believed in God all along. Look at their response to the Ark coming to the battle in chapter 4:

We’re done for! Who can save us from the clutches of these supergods? These are the same gods who hit the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues out in the wilderness. (1 Samuel 4.8, MSG)

And after the Ark was in Philistia:

When the leaders of Ashdod saw what was going on, they decided, “The ark of the god of Israel has got to go. We can’t handle this, and neither can our god Dagon.” (1 Samuel 5.7, MSG)

“We can’t handle this, and neither can our god Dagon.”

But believing is not the same as following.

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? (James 2.19, MSG)