Albert Barnes Commentary Exodus 34:9

"And he said, If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance." — Exodus 34:9 (ASV)

This yearning struggle after assurance is like the often-repeated utterance of the heart, when it receives a blessing beyond its hopes, “Can this be real?”