Spiritual 3D

We live in a world that is comprised of three dimensions; height, width and depth.  However, our eyes can actually only show us two dimensions.  The depth that we all think we can see is merely a trick that our brains have learned.  Our perception of depth comes from our brain's ability to put together two 2D images (height and width) in such a way as to extrapolate depth.

In the world of multi-media, computers and motion picture techniques are sometimes used to portray images that provide the perception of depth or thickness.  This is commonly referred to as 3D.

There are some very interesting 3“Ds” in Psalm 37 for our spiritual eyes to see:  “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 27:3-4)  In a unique way, there is an extrapolation of depth in these verses, but more on that later!

The first of the 3”Ds” from Psalm 37 is dwell.  To dwell is to remain for a time, to live as a resident.  In this Psalm, we are encouraged to trust in the Lord and to good and to dwell in the land (where God has us) where we can enjoy His safe pasture.  A friend of mine once waxed philosophical in regard to dwelling when he said “you are where you.”  So to add to my friend’s insight, I don’t just live there but I am really there, as in, I’m all there.

Delight is the second of the 3“D’s”.  Delight is a high degree of gratification or pleasure or satisfaction.  In this Psalm, the delight is not in where we dwell or even in doing what is good but our delight should be in the Lord.  It’s in Him that we should find our gratification, pleasure and satisfaction. 

The last of the 3”D’s” is desire.  Desire is to long for or hope for especially toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment.  You might look at this Psalm and come to an initial conclusion that God is some kind of cosmic genie that just gives us our heart’s desires.  But that would not be accurate.

Yet, since I do believe that God does give us the desires of our hearts, the questions might be when and how.  One interpretation of this passage is that as we do good and as we dwell where God has us and as we delight in Him, we are normally moving toward God and are aligning ourselves with Him.  As we more and more align ourselves with Him, our desires will more align with His desires and perhaps even come to mirror them. He is more than glad to give us our desires when our desires mirror His.

The extrapolation of depth in these verses that I hinted at earlier?  Well, when we do good and dwell where He has us, that is like the width that our spiritual eyes see.  When we delight in Him alone, that is like the height that our spiritual eyes see.  And, as we put those two together, depth is extrapolated and this depth is the process of our desires becoming more aligned with His.  That is Psalm 37:3-4 lived out in spiritual 3D!