"So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob."
This is an amazing couplet: our groaning, and God's remembering. One of the big reasons the good and perfect God gives even His beloved churchmen troubles is so that they will call out (or groan) to Him. This causes the Lord to call to mind His eternal covenant.
The covenant of grace is fulfilled in Jesus Christ's body and blood--given for sinners, who are then brought into His family (church). It is our privilege to be in covenant with God, and to secure His aid at every turn. This covenant does not exempt us from problems--but it does provide us redemption (which is of ultimate value).
[Puritan quote of the day: "The work and business of ministers of the gospel is, as it were, that of servants: to wash and cleanse the souls of men; for this is done by the preaching of the Word, which is their main business." --Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon entitled, "Christ the Example of Ministers"]
