393. (Verse 10) And they cried with a great voice. That this signifies their grief of mind, is plain from the signification of crying, as denoting vehement grief of mind, because this manifests itself by the sound of a cry in speech; wherefore cry also in the Word signifies grief. Every affection also, whether it be of grief or joy, expresses itself by sounds, and the ideas of the thought by the expressions in the sound; hence it is that sound in speech manifests both the quality and quantity of the affection, and, this more clearly in the spiritual world than in the natural world, for this reason, that it is not permitted there to produce other affections than those which properly belong to the mind; therefore any one that is wise, can there hear and perceive the affection of another, solely from his speech. (That with spirits and angels sounds pertain to the affection, and words to the ideas of the thought, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell; n. 241, and above, n. 323.) That to cry out, and a cry in the Word signifies grief, is plain from many passages there, of which I will adduce this only from Isaiah:

"Heshbon cried, and Elealeh: the voice was heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed of Moab shall cry out; his soul shall be grievous unto him. My heart crieth over Moab; for the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab, even unto Eglaim the howling thereof" (15:4, 5, 8).

Because a cry signifies grief, it is hence an accepted saying, to cry unto God, when the mind is in a state of grief (as in Isaiah 19:20; 30:19; 65:19; Jeremiah 14:2, and elsewhere). That a cry in the Word is predicated of various affections, such as of interior lamentation, of beseeching, and supplication from anguish, of protesting, and indignation of confession; of supplication, and also of exultation, and others, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, (n. 2240, 2821, 4779, 5016, 5018, 5027, 5323, 5365, 5870, 6801, 6802, 6862, 7119, 7142, 8179, 8353, 9202).

8179. 'Why do you cry to Me?' means that there is no need of intercession. This is clear from the meaning of 'crying to Jehovah' as interceding, that is, pleading for them to be delivered from temptation, and therefore the question 'Why do you cry to Me?' means, Why do you intercede when there is no need of intercession? And as there is no need of it the words 'Speak to the children of Israel, and let them travel on' immediately follow, meaning that the people will be given help, but that temptation will still go on until their preparation has been accomplished.

[2] With regard to there being no need of intercession, the situation is that when people are in the throes of temptation they usually stay their hands and resort solely to prayers, which they then pour forth feverishly, unaware that such prayers achieve nothing, but that they should battle against the falsities and evils which the hells introduce. The truths of faith are the means for fighting that battle, and they are of help because they strengthen the forms of good and the truths opposed to falsities and evils. In the conflicts brought by temptations furthermore a person should fight as if he did so in his own strength, yet he should acknowledge and believe that he does so in the Lord's, see above in 8176. If a person does not fight as if in his own strength he does not make his own the goodness and truth which flow in from the Lord by way of heaven. But when a person does fight as if in his own strength and yet believes that he does so in the Lord's, he does make those things his own. This gives him a new proprium or selfhood, called a heavenly proprium, which is a new will.

[3] Moreover people in the throes of temptation who take no action other than to send up prayers do not realize that if their temptation were terminated before running its full course their preparation for heaven would not be accomplished, and so they could not be saved. For this reason also little heed is paid to the prayers of those in the throes of temptation; for the Lord desires the end in view, which is the person's salvation. The Lord knows that end, but the person does not, and the Lord does not do what prayers ask for if that is contrary to the end, which is salvation. The truth of this also becomes more firmly established with the person who conquers in temptations; but one who does not conquer entertains doubts about God's help and power because he is not heard. Then sometimes, because he stays his hands, he gives in to a degree.

From all this one may see how to understand the explanation that there is no need of intercession, namely that one should not rely on prayer. For in prayer, when inspired by God, there is always the thought and belief that the Lord alone knows whether what is sought would be beneficial or not. Therefore the one who prays leaves the Lord to decide whether to listen to what he asks for, then accordingly pleads that the Lord's will may be done, not his own, in keeping with the Lord's words uttered in Gethsemane during His severest temptation, Matthew 26:39, 42, 44.