“O God, you have searched me and known me!”
This Psalm captures the sense of constancy and persistence of God’s presence, even in times of doubt. The psalmist celebrates the way in which God has formed and shaped us in a wonderful way, even from before our birth. Inside each of us there is great potential, and God is at work in us before we recognize it.
The purposes of God, for which the clay of the world is moulded, seems to be hidden from the psalmist. However while the ways of God seem hidden, God knows the ways of the psalmist in every intimate detail. Nothing is hidden from God. Even though the ways of God seem difficult to understand the psalmist is in awe of their relationship with God.
This awesome understanding of God’s in intimate relationship can be further seen in the following quote about God being seen as the ‘Oxygen’ of the writer’s existence:-
“Spiritually, God is the oxygen of my existence; I would find it very difficult to thrive without a belief in God. Of course, the word “God” needs some clarification. It means different things to different people, even though there are often clear areas of overlap. To clarify: I believe in the God who is made known and available to me through Jesus Christ – that is, a personal God, who I believe knows me as an individual, cares for me, and enables and inspires me to live my life with a firm sense of purpose and a deep satisfaction in the service of others”.
Professor Alister McGrath of Oxford