ספר שמות

Exodus 3,7. Hashem said: “I have surely seen the ‎sorry state of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard ‎their outcry on account of their oppressors.” Exodus 3,9.“and now, here the outcry of the Children of ‎Israel has come to Me;”‎It is important for anyone petitioning G’d for help to realize ‎that he must not do so from predominantly egotistical motives, ‎but he must make up his own mind and then convey this to G’d, ‎that the principal reason he is asking for G’d’s help is so that he ‎can become a better servant of the Lord. When he does so, He will ‎be far more likely to find G’d responsive to his needs, or what he ‎thinks are his needs.‎‎G’d therefore had to perform 2 separate acts of loving ‎kindness for His people. First of all, He had to improve their lot ‎drastically on a mundane level, by redeeming them physically. ‎Secondly, he had to treat them as if their appeal to Him had been ‎based on their desire to serve Him better. This is hinted at when ‎in verse 7 G’d is reported as saying: ‎ראה ראיתי את עני עמי‎, i.e. “I ‎have taken note of the fact that My people wish to be truly My ‎people, something that will entitle them to be called ‘My ‎people’.” Secondly‎‏ ‏‎(verse 9), ‎הנה צעקת בני ישראל באה אלי‎, “the ‎outcry of the Children of Israel has come to me, (arrived at My ‎throne), I am aware that it is their desire to be My people by their ‎wishing to serve Me better.” The verse ends by making the ‎physical suffering endured by the people now appear as a ‎secondary consideration in G’d’s response to them. G’d, so to ‎speak, makes excuses for the people’s low spiritual level as being ‎due to the constant physical pressures they are exposed to in ‎their status as slaves of the lowest human level.‎