God Heard. God Remembered. God Saw. God Knew.

Some passages grab me every time. Exodus 2:24-25 is one of them: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.” (Exodus 2:24-25)

There’s enough here to sustain someone for years.

God Heard

Exodus 2:23 says, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” They were burdened beyond what they could handle, and their groans and cries became a prayer.

And then we read these amazing words: “God heard their groaning.”

God hears his people when they’re in distress. When we feel like nobody cares or listens, God hears our groaning. His ear is attuned to us. He keeps track of our tossing and turning; our tears matter so much to him that not one of them is lost (Psalm 56:8). The Spirit even helps us when we don’t know what to pray

Even better, Romans 8:26 says that when we struggle with prayer, and don’t know what to pray, the Spirit helps us.

A lot of us are struggling more than normal right now. God hears us. None of our prayers are wasted. He hears them all, even the inarticulate cries for help.

God Remembered

“And God remembered his covenant with Abraham…”

He never forgot, of course. The term means that he began to act on his covenant promises.

If there’s one thing we can hold onto, it’s that God never forgets his promises. We may have to wait for them to be fulfilled, but God never forgets his covenant, and he never forgets us.

God Saw

For those who feel unseen: God sees.

“Every blow of the hand that buffets you, every cut of the scourge, every scorching hour under the noon-tide sun, every lonely hour when lovers and friends stand aloof, every step into the valley of the shadow, every moment of sleep beneath the juniper tree, is watched by the eyes that never slumber nor sleep” (Maxie D. Dunnam).

“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous” (Psalm 34:15). Nobody else may notice, but God does.

God Knew

God is aware of our problems. His knowledge is intimate and personal. “The God of the covenant, the God who sees, hears, and remembers, is the God who knows our situation in all its desperate need” (Philip Ryken).

One of the best ways to read Scripture is to look for what Scripture teaches us about God and ourselves.

Here’s what I learn about us: we are often in desperate need, burdened beyond what we can handle, and needing help but hardly having the words to express our need.

Here’s what I learn about God: He hears the cry of his people. He remembers his covenant with them. He sees everything about us. And he knows, and he cares.

As I say, we could live off of this for months. We serve an amazing God who’s ready to hear us in our need.