© 1999 Jeffrey Brian White

I have had a number of thoughts on this notion over the years. One of the emphases of my worldly education was that one should develop confidence in oneself and believe in oneself. It was further emphasized that this quality was essential to good mental health and success in the world. It is true that we must trust in something or someone, and that this need to trust is God-given, for we all place our confidence in something or someone. This is further evidenced by the fact that many passages in the Scriptures deal with this issue. For example, David, writing by the Holy Spirit in the book of Proverbs, wrote:

David wrote this for Solomon and for us who believe (1C 10:11 et al). I want you to notice a few things in this passage because the passage as whole explains this simple statement »Trust in the LORD with all thine heart«. We should also bear in mind that David speaks from his own experience, sharing his testimony. David made the errors he warns against and likewise also discovered the principles of God which he encourages.

David gives us two warnings. The first thing he warns is »lean not unto thine own understanding«. Understanding must be obtained from God and gained through experience. To lean unto a thing is to be inclined in its direction. The inclination of Jesus is record in John 1:1 where the verse says, »the Word was with God«. While it is true that Jesus was and is with God, »with« is actually a bad translation of the Greek preposition pros. The literal meaning of pros is 'toward(s)'. The Bible says that we shall be like Jesus (1J 3:2), so we are intended to be inclined toward God away from our own understanding. This inclination is foundational, for Hebrews 6:1 specifically mentions »the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God«. Note that »repentance from dead works« is also included in this passage when he says »fear the LORD, and depart from evil«. The second warning David gives is »Be not wise in thine own eyes«. David thought he was wise enough to know what to do when Bathsheba became pregnant by him. At first, he sent her husband Uriah home to be with his wife so that he might have sexual intercourse with her and create the impression or appearance, the illusion, that the child was Uriah's. This having failed (Uriah didn't sleep with her out of respect for his comrades in battle), he sent Uriah to the fiercest part of the battle, and Uriah was killed in combat. This was an attempt to cover the adultery which he committed with her and make it appear that he had taken her after Uriah's death. This failed and the child she was carrying died at birth. All David needed to do to avoid all these sorrows was to simply obey the commandment »thou shalt not commit adultery«. Had he leaned on the commandment, this sad sequence of events would have never happened. Finally, Nathan the prophet spoke to David about his sin and then the king repented (Ps 51).

»In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.« Most of the time, David did do this. Acknowledgement is just that: Giving recognition to God and acknowledging (the reality of) his presence. David now gets more specific in his trusting, that is, he trusts Yahweh to direct his paths. Our paths are our means to move from one place to another.

»It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.« Physical health will result in we will simply follow these directions.

Now, someone may ask: "Why write about 'trust in oneself' in work a dealing with the psyche?" Well, I have several reasons. The primary reason is the will of the Spirit of God who moved me to begin to write about it. Secondly, the Spirit of Christ (through the Scriptures) has much to say about the subject in very definite terms. Thirdly, most popular philosophies agree in their emphasis on people needing to trust in themselves, especially as it relates to consciousness and the disposition of the mind. Fourthly, this emphasis has been adopted by many in Christendom, and that adoption has diluted or otherwise nullified the working of the faith of Christ in their hearts by replacing that faith with faith in oneself. Faith in one's own self is essentially the same as trust in oneself or self-confidence.

It would be good to note this verse written by the apostle Paul:

Paul is sharing his own testimony. For him, there was not to be any trust in himself, but only in God, specifically, in his capacity as the Great Resurrector. In this verse, we see the principle of the cross. Paul wrote to the Galatians: »I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me« (Ga 2:20, KJV). Crucifixion was a method used to carry out a sentence of death handed out by a magistrate or judge. In this verse, one application of this principle is that Paul's trust in himself was sentenced to death, and that sentence was handed out by the Judge Of All The Earth, Yahweh. »For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh« (Ro 8:3, KJV). Through this comparison, we can perceive that trust in ourselves is one aspect of sin in the flesh, for to condemn someone is to pass judgment on that person and hand out a punitive sentence. God issued a death sentence on my trust in myself, my self-confidence, my faith in myself, condemning it to death by crucifixion, and then executed that judgment through Jesus' death. The purpose of that judgment is that I might live through the faith of Christ and trust in God instead of myself. »...yet not I...« (Ga 2:20).

That being said, note the similar revelation which Jeremiah received:

Cursed. When we place our trust in humanity, in ourselves, we bring a curse upon ourselves. The consequence is that we wind up left in state analogous to that of an animal in a desert during a drought, wasting away for lack of water and food. Something truly good from God comes along and we fail to recognize it and miss out. And then we are left alone in a place where nothing can grow. If there is no water, there will be no fruit, that is, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Ga 5:22-23) will not even sprout. Go to a salt flat sometime. Absolutely nothing can grow there, for there is no good earth for any seed to put down roots in. As long as we believe in ourselves, we will not be rooted and grounded in Christ, for his word will not be able to take root in us. You can't plant anything in a salt land, and expect it to grow and bear fruit.

And note the progression: (1) trust in man (i.e. self), then (2) one makes flesh his strength, and then (3) the heart departs from Yahweh, who is the fountain of Living Waters. This is related to what Jesus said to the apostles: »Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing« (Jn 15:4-5, KJV). If our hearts become disconnected from him, we abide not in him, bear no fruit, and then wither (Jn 15:6).

And this does relate to the psyche, for James wrote:

Some translations say the »implanted« word. It does no good to PLANT a seed in a salt flat. The word must be implanted in good earth if it is to grow and ultimately bear good, ripened fruit (Mt 13:8,23). Beloved, when you trust in yourself, you create a condition within yourself which severs you from the watering of the Spirit of God, that is, from the internal working of the Holy Spirit. And you make it difficult or impossible for you to receive the word of God which Yahweh has purposed for the deliverance or salvation of your mind.

Now consider trust in Yahweh:

BLESSED is the one who trusts in Yahweh! And whose HOPE Yahweh is. Unlike the one who trusts in man, this one shall have both the water and soil to grow. The waters and the river both speak of the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Although Jeremiah isn't saying it directly, what he prophesies here points toward New Covenant reality. Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers: »For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being ROOTED and GROUNDED IN LOVE, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God« (Ep 3:14-19, KJV). When we are trusting in Yahweh, we set ourselves in agreement with him, and he imparts some of that Living Water, that is, something from his Holy Spirit. He does this with the intention that we should not wither, but rather, that our leaf might green, that we might grow in him and bear fruit. His intention is that his people be filled with all the fulness of God! What we currently call 'being filled with the Holy Spirit' is only the beginning of what Jesus really wants to do and bring to pass. Beloved, Yahweh desires to root you and ground in his love that you might know it in real fulness and grow up in it, that his love might be perfected within us as a people (and individually also).

»Whose Hope Yahweh is...« Yahweh must become our hope. He must be our expectation. Any other hope simply doesn't even come close to comparing with him. Note what Paul wrote to the Colossian believers: »...the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the HOPE of glory« (Co 1:26-27, KJV). David had this Hope. He wrote in Psalm 17:15: »As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness«. Our Hope is not Heaven, nor is it some rapture out of tribulation - it is to conformed to the image of Christ to such a degree that we put on immortality. Paul wrote: »Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.« (1C 15:46-49, KJV). Let me tell something: we will never come to this so long as we believe in ourselves. Let no one mislead you, Jesus himself taught this very thing:

When Jesus said this to Martha, he was referring back to his statement to her that Lazarus would rise again (Jn 11:23). Her response was to confess her belief in a future resurrection (Jn 11:24). So Jesus tells her that the Resurrection and the Life is a PERSON, not simply some future event. In doing so, he confirms her belief in that future resurrection event, but then he challenged her to believe more fully with this:

Quite frankly, this blew her mind so bad that she couldn't even really respond to it. So she confessed his Christhood instead. He didn't even begin to qualify the statement. No, he challenges us also with the same question: »Believest thou this?«

I realize that not many have so walked with God that they failed to die. Indeed, when I present this to people, they do look at me with a bit of disbelief. Nevertheless, we have this testimony from Genesis:

Enoch is first person mentioned in Scripture as having walked with God. He is also the earliest prophet. His son Methuselah is recorded to have lived 969 years, longer than any human being whose age is mentioned in Scripture. And while we read in Genesis that there were others who lived into their ninehundreds, Enoch's son lives the longest. I want to draw your attention to the longevity associated with Enoch. Enoch vanished into thin air walking with Yahweh. As it says in Hebrews: »By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.« (Hb 11:5-6, KJV). And let's be clear on this faith, it was »faith toward God« (Hb 6:1). Enoch did not put his trust in himself, but in Elohim. Trust in oneself has never caused anyone to ever break free of death. Some have tried. The same was also true of Elijah, who was separated from his servant and successor Elisha by a fiery chariot as he also vanished into the realm of the Spirit. Of all the prophecies in Scripture, Enoch's is the one which points to at least some portions of Scripture having been written before the Flood, from which Jude apparently quotes:

Daniel also spoke of the same saints as Enoch:

The vision is greater than I can express. The whole point that I am after here is that this is a people who trust in God, not in themselves. The entire New Testament is taken up with Jesus preparing a people for this kind of authority service unto Yahweh. Enoch knew that Yahweh was going to raise up such a people on the earth. Why do you think Paul wrote such things as these:

It does follow, that, if we have no confidence in the flesh, we won't make it our strength or our arm. Circumcision was given to Abraham, passed down through Isaac and Jacob, and then reiterated in Moses as a covenant seal. Its New Covenant equivalent is baptism, in which we are baptized into Christ, into his death, burying the old person. If Paul is saying that »we are the circumcision« and then lists the characteristics of the circumcision as being worship of God in spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh, we can then also see that the 'uncircumcision', as it were, is characterized by not worshiping God in the spirit, not rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and indeed having confidence in the flesh. And this 'uncircumcision' will not be able to function in the Kingdom of the Most High. No one is going to rule with Jesus through any kind of self-confidence or trust in oneself, but rather, as Paul wrote:

Let the military forces of the earth war after the flesh, the weapons our warfare are not fleshly, but spiritual. Let no one deceive you, the Conquering Lamb conquers by the word of his testimony, through having been slain as a sacrifice pleasing unto Yahweh. And the saints of the El Elyon will overcome through faith, through the blood of the Lamb and through the word of their testimony, not loving their lives unto death (Rv 12:11). Yahweh will yet have a people in the image of his Son (Ro 8:29).

Perhaps we should take a quick look at the Prince of Tyrus, for he is an example of trust in oneself.

Note what the Prince of Tyrus says in his heart: »I am an El«, »I am Elohim«. In verse 10, Yahweh says that he will die the »deaths of the uncircumcised«. This is a very clear picture of trust in oneself in its fullness and just the opposite of what Paul described as the character of the True Circumcision. That's why he's destined to die these deaths. Self-deification is what is really being dealt with in the circumcision of the heart. Remember, Paul was a Pharisee like the one who trusted in himself that he was righteous and went home from the temple of Yahweh unjustified (Lu 18:9-14). Comparatively, the Pharisee was better than the Prince of Tyrus, for he didn't deify himself completely, but was nevertheless operating out of the same nature. Nevertheless, those who are of the True Circumcision will not make themselves out to be Elohim. Although we may partake of the nature of Yahweh through Jesus, we never become God. Unlike his Pharisee brother, Paul came to understand that the fleshly mind was a self-deifying mind. Here's one of his descriptions of it:

In other places, Paul calls this »man of sin« the »old man«, the »first Adam«, the »earthy man«, the »children of disobedience« and then points out that we have all borne this image. Ezekiel and Paul were describing the same nature, one which ultimately deifies itself. It one which is full of pride and hostile toward God and anything called God. Then Paul says we shall bear the image of Heavenly. Beloved, we are not going to come into a full circumcision of the heart (if I may put this way) until we come to place where we have NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH. That circumcision of the heart is meant to deliver us from self-deification, self-confidence, so-called self-actualization, pride, and haughtiness. That's why we learn first to believe toward God (Hb 6:1). Our trust in ourselves is replaced and displaced by our trust in Yahweh, our faith in Jesus. As our trust in our Elohim grows, our trust in ourselves begins to fall away. When we partake of that baptism in fire, the old nature is consumed in the fire of Yahweh's manifest Presence. Paul described the action of the Spirit of God consuming the old self-trusting, self-deifying nature this way:

As we continue to walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light, his blood will indeed cleanse from all sin (1J 1:6-10). Paul wrote »whatever makes manifest is LIGHT« (Ep 5:13) and Jesus is the Light of the World (Jn 8:12) and Yahweh is the Light of the Temple not made with hands (Rv 21:23), which we are (Ep 2:19-22). His Presence will reveal the ways in which we trust in ourselves. »Our God is a consuming fire« (Hb 12:29, KJV) and he will speak with a Tongue of Fire (Is 30:27-33), for that is the »spirit of his mouth«. Note that it is »the brightness of his COMING« which shall destroy the Man of Sin. This word translated as »coming« here is the Greek noun parousia which does not mean either 'coming' or 'advent', but PRESENCE! The brightness of his Presence shall destroy that nature which trusts in itself and deifies itself. Ezekiel wrote about »deaths« with regard to the Prince of Tyrus. Those »deaths« are the cycles of the Spirit's dealings to reveal, consume and destroy that man of sin who dwells within man. We enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation (Ac 14:22), so, although we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God (Co 3:3), the man of sin within us shall die many deaths as Yahweh cleanses that old nature from us.

And the best is that it all starts from the Seed planted in the earth! Yahweh will roar out of Zion, the »spirit of his mouth« will speak against the Prince of Tyrus who has dwelt in each one of us and rebuke his idolatry. Now, have you ever considered that this is really a picture of the Anointed within us speaking against the man of sin who also speaks within us? Or the brightness of his Presence within us which destroys him? Christ within you is the expectation of glory, and that glory shall yet be revealed WITHIN a people in his image (Ro 8:18; 2Th 1:10).