Exodus 19:8 The people all responded together, "We will do everything the Lord has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. (Without hesitation and with great confidence, the people responded they would do all the Lord required of them. But that was the problem. They made their declaration out of a sense of self-confidence with little real understanding or exploration of what joining into covenant with God actually meant, about what obedience to God actually meant. They thought they could perform all that was needed. They thought they could show God how well they could achieve what He required. They would soon see their performance, their efforts, would not ever be sufficient to fully obey God. Eager to receive God's promised blessings, they didn't even know what the exact provisions would demand of them. The Lord shows us through the Israelites how little and how often we fail to understand that our efforts cannot achieve what the Lord requires of us. He calls us to understand that still today we can only fulfill His purposes for us through His sovereign grace and strength.)
