That is, acknowledge His power to remove these plagues, whatever their cause, and to seek healing from Him. Not all were agreed to the counsel of the priests. Their heathen religion was one of servile, selfish fear; the Philistines were loyal to Dagon, yet afraid of the God of Israel, because of recent occurrences, and were in a quandary as to the way out of their difficulty. They wanted to be rid of the ark, yet pride surged through their hearts because of its capture. It would be showing disrespect to Dagon to give glory to God. Still less willing were they to give up their form of worship, as did Nebuchadnezzar centuries later, when convinced of the superior power of the Creator. Before coming to this final conference they had tried various expedients, such as sending the ark from one town to another.