Why did God only hear the Hebrews' cries during the service of the king's death?

[gib65]

[...] It suggests that only upon crying at the service did God hear them, and only because it was a service (a religious ceremony). [...]

It was nothing to do with any ceremony of the king's death. It was that the king dying caused the children of Israel to concentrate upon their predicament, and they cried out to G-d.

I see. So I must have misread the passage. The passage says "and the sons of Israel sigh because of the service, and cry, and their cry goes up to God, because of the service" <-- I read that as "their cry goes up to God because of the service", but you're reading it as "the sons of Israel sigh ... and cry ... because of the service"

That makes more sense. I figured my reading was reasonable because many religions suppose that the way to communicate with the divine is through some service or ritual--like you literally have to pray with your palms together for God to hear you--otherwise, he won't. I figured that 3 and a half thousand years ago, they might have believed something similar.

To everyone... these are all great responses. Thanks! Keep them coming!