So what was the problem? Why didn’t the Lord save His people from the Philistines when they brought out the Ark of the Covenant with them into battle? He had saved them in the past in this way, why not now? Read again verse 3. Notice the wording “that it may … save us.” The Hebrews were not relying on God for deliverance, but the Ark!
Even the Philistines got it (kind of). Yet they were off on their understanding. They simply saw this as the image of a great god of war coming against them. Where the image is, the god would be. They only recognized the True God as one of many different gods. Because the Hebrew were trusting in a thing instead of in God, they were defeated.
Sometimes well meaning Christians fall into the same trap. They think of a cross or crucifix as having protective powers from God. Or that the sanctuary of a church is a place of refuge against the evil one. It’s not a place of thing that has the power to protect us, it is only our God. Without Jesus, the cross is powerless. Without the presence of our Savior, the church is just another building. He is our refuge. He is our strength!