"God Helps Those Who Help Themselves"

“God helps those who help themselves.” That phrase sounds like something that makes a lot of sense when you first hear it, doesn’t it? After all, we see examples throughout Scripture of men and women who seem commended by God for their ingenuity. We read Scriptures like, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Doesn’t that imply that God helps us if we help ourselves? And then when you think about how getting ahead in our society takes hard work, it all seems to make sense, right? Not quite. God does expect us to help ourselves in some things, like working diligently as to the Lord and not for people. However, if we take this statement to its logical conclusion, we end up in a place where we rely on ourselves for our salvation. But God does not help those who can help themselves because, from His perspective, we cannot help ourselves. We cannot save ourselves from our bondage to sin, so He does it for us. God helps the helpless who trust in Him. The lyrics in the hymn, Rock of Ages say, “Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law’s demands. All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.” That line sums up the heart of our worship this weekend.