What does 1 Samuel 7:5 mean?
After the people have repented of their sinful worship of foreign gods and have begun to serve the Lord (1 Samuel 7:4), Samuel calls for a nationwide gathering to be held at a place called Mizpah. Most scholars agree that this is the same as modern-day Tel en-Nasbeh, a short distance north of Jerusalem. A walled structure at Mizpah may have been used to guard the road between Judah and Ephraim. The nation was also called to assemble at Mizpah in Judges 20—21 and later in Samuel when Saul is appointed to be Israel's first king (1 Samuel 10:17–27).In his call to gather at Mizpah, Samuel promises to pray to the Lord for the people. One of Samuel's jobs as prophet and judge over Israel was to pray to God on their behalf (1 Samuel 7:8; 12:23; Jeremiah 15:1).