(Exo. 33. and 34.) Remark here... one thing most beautiful to observe. God, after threatening to consume them (His people), had said (chap. 33:3), "I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people." Yet Moses says in chapter 34:9: "If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people." Grace had come in in the interval, God's goodness had passed before him. This changed all; and the people being so stiffnecked, Moses says, We cannot do without God.... The moment grace is brought in... we feel that our very sinfulness is a reason why the presence of God cannot be dispensed with.