The statue of Dagon fallen before the Ark of the Covenant

Lord! Make our heart Your temple in which You would live.

Grant that every impure thought, every earthy desire

   might be like the idol Dagon – each morning broken

   at the feet of the Ark of the Covenant,

Teach us to master flesh and blood

   and let this mastery of ourselves be our bloody sacrifice

   in order that we might be able to say with the apostle:

   “I die every day.”

 ______________________

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord.