John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 18:16

"according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not." — Deuteronomy 18:16 (ASV)

According to all that you desired. He pronounces them guilty of ingratitude if they did not quietly submit themselves to their Prophets, since on this point God had complied with their own request. For so that the prophetic office might be more revered and loved by them, and lest it fall into disrepute because they saw the Prophet as merely a mortal, God had extracted the confession from them that nothing could be better than for Him to choose human interpreters.

At the promulgation of the Law, the visible majesty of God had shone out, and the people, terrified at the sight, had voluntarily desired that Moses should be given to them as a teacher and as the proclaimer of the heavenly voice. We have already seen how useful this terror was to commend the teaching which is delivered by human beings.

We have abundant experience that our minds are often carried away by vain speculations. Thus, we are inclined to wish to bring down God from heaven whenever any doubt creeps into our minds. Therefore, it was necessary for the Israelites to be convinced of their weakness, lest they go beyond their proper limits. They also needed to be led to ask, as a great blessing, for what God had foreseen would be for their good. At the same time, they were to abandon that proud curiosity which would always have been stirring them up, if this remedy had not corrected it in good time.

But it would have been inexcusable for them to grow weary of that gift which they had judged to be so good for themselves.

In summary, God had appeared once to establish credit and authority for His Prophets; but He had established that order for the government of His Church and for the declaration of His will, which the people themselves had known by experience to be most highly advantageous for them.