393. Verse 10. And they cried out with a great voice, signifies their grief of mind. This is evident from the signification of "to cry out," as being vehement grief of mind, for this manifests itself by the sound of crying out in speech; consequently "crying out" in the Word signifies grief. Moreover, every affection, whether of grief or joy, expresses itself by sounds, and ideas of thought by the expressions in the sound. This is why sound in speech manifests both the quality and measure of the affection, and this more clearly in the spiritual world than in the natural world, for the reason that it is not permitted there to show forth any affections other than those that are the mind's own. In the spiritual world, therefore, anyone who is wise can hear and perceive the affection of another, solely from his speech. (That with spirits and angels sounds belong to affection, and words to the ideas of the thought, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 241, and above, n. 323.) That "to cry out," and "a crying out," in the Word, signify grief, is evident from many passages there, of which I will cite this only from Isaiah:

Heshbon cried out, and Elealeh; their voice was heard even to Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab shall shout; his soul shall be ill within him. My heart crieth out over Moab: for a crying out closeth round about the border of Moab, the howling thereof even unto Eglaim (Isaiah 15:4, 6, 8).

Because "crying out" signifies grief, it is customary to speak of "crying out unto God," when the mind is in a state of grief (as in Isaiah 19:20; 30:19; 65:19; Jeremiah 14:2 elsewhere). That "crying out" in the Word is predicated of various affections, such as interior lamentation, beseeching and supplication from anguish, attestation and indignation, confession, supplication, and also exultation and other states (See Arcana Coelestia 2240, 2821, 2841, 4779, 5016, 5018, 5027, 5323, 5365, 5870, 6801, 6802, 6862, 7119, 7142, 7782, 8179, 8353, 9202).

1023. That 'and I, behold I am establishing My covenant' means the Lord's presence in charity becomes clear from the meaning of 'a covenant', dealt with in 666, where it was shown that 'a covenant' means regeneration, and in particular the conjunction of the Lord with a regenerate person by means of love. It was also shown there that the heavenly marriage is the actual covenant itself, and that consequently the heavenly marriage exists with every regenerate person. The nature of this marriage or covenant has also been shown already.

[2] The heavenly marriage with the member of the Most Ancient Church existed in the area of his own will, but the heavenly marriage with the member of the Ancient Church came into existence in the area of his own understanding. Actually when the will part of man's mind had become utterly corrupted, the Lord in miraculous fashion separated the area of his own understanding from that corrupted will part, and within the area of man's own understanding He formed a new will, which is conscience. Into conscience He infused charity, and into charity innocence, and in this manner joined Himself to man, or what amounts to the same, established a covenant with him.

[3] To the extent that the area of a person's own will can be separated from this understanding part the Lord is able to be present with him, that is, to join Himself or establish a covenant with him. Temptations and similar means of regeneration render inactive the area of a person's own will, so that it is reduced to nothing and so to speak dies. To the extent that this happens the Lord can operate within charity by means of conscience implanted in the area of a person's own understanding. This is what is called 'a covenant' here.