Exodus 2:23-25
“It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the children of Israel, and God knew them.”
This passage describes the worsening conditions of the Israelites in Egypt after an earlier pharaoh who knew Joseph died. Under a new king, they were enslaved, forced into hard labor, and oppressed. Their 'crying out' is a desperate appeal for relief from their suffering.
What does it mean to acknowledge our suffering and call out for help, whether to a divine presence or to each other?