The Cost of Abiding
Notes
Transcript
Me
Me
Put up pic
So this is my most famous role on stage.
I was a random villager in Cinderella
But I think my costume got mixed up with another musical about being Santa’s elf helper.
I was the only one with this bizarre color combination.
Everyone else had normal costumes!
Which is exactly the level of stardom you’re imagining
What I didn’t expect was that being in musical would become one of the first places where following Jesus actually cost me something
After the final show,
And this was my senior year, I was already accepted to Moody
There was a post-show party.
I was invited, and so I went.
At first it felt completely normal.
All the people I had gotten to know in musical, or had known before musical, were there
Classmates from my AP classes, people I had known since kindergarten, and even a few youth group kids.
This was not some fringe crowd.
It was the musical cast.
A bunch of normal high school kids from across different social groups.
As the night went on, the group started pushing boundaries in the games we were playing.
And as it went on, I realized I could not really be a part of this anymore.
I had this realization that if I stayed,
I would probably be tempted to compromise in order to fit in.
I wasn’t being asked to make a statement to renounce Jesus
I wasn’t being pressured publicly.
I just had to decide whether staying and fitting in, mattered more than remaining faithful to Jesus
So after getting there late, and being there only about forty-five minutes, I left.
I said my goodbyes, and told them great job on the show, and walked out to my car
Nothing spiritual happened on the drive home.
I just knew that staying loyal to Jesus meant leaving a room where my loyalty was quietly being tested.
We
We
If you’ve ever felt that kind of quiet pressure,
You’re not alone, and you’re not imagining it
Most of us have had moments like that.
Not dramatic moments.
Not headline moments.
Just quiet moments where we realize something is being asked of us by our friends, bosses, schoolmates, or even family
Something that runs counter to what Jesus would want us to do.
And usually the question is not,
“Do you believe in Jesus?” or ‘Do you reject Jesus?”
The question is,
“How loyal are you willing to be when believing starts to cost you something?”
Or put another way, how much compromise are you willing to make to avoid the cost?
Because compromise rarely begins with a dramatic decision.
Paul David Tripp points out that when we sin, we usually do one of two things.
We either admit our wrong and run to the mercy of Christ,
Or we begin to justify ourselves, and those small acts of self-justification slowly harden the heart.
So what once bothered us, stops bothering us.
And what once stirred our conscience, grows quiet.
That is how loyalty begins to erode.
Not through open rebellion, but through quiet compromise
Not all at once, but slowly, reasonably, and over time
For some of us, the cost shows up in friendships.
It looks like staying in a space you know is shaping you in ways you do not want, simply because you do not want to be the odd one out.
For some, it shows up at work.
It looks like being expected to go along with something that feels normal in the workplace,
And having to decide whether keeping peace or protecting your position matters more than honoring Jesus.
Or maybe it looks like a moment where integrity would make things harder, slower, or more awkward,
and having to decide whether obedience is worth the cost.
For some, it shows up in family dynamics,
It looks like knowing that faithfulness to Jesus will create tension, disappointment, or misunderstanding,
and having to decide whether keeping things comfortable matters more than staying loyal.
And what makes this so difficult is that the pressure rarely feels evil.
It feels normal.
It feels expected.
It feels like, “This is just how things go.”
That tension is not about being self-righteous.
It is about where our allegiance lies.
It is about belonging.
It is about acceptance.
And it is about deciding who gets to shape what feels right and reasonable in our lives.
And when allegiance to Jesus starts to place us slightly out of step with the people around us,
It can feel isolating.
Not because anyone is attacking us.
But because remaining loyal always costs something when it goes against the current.
That experience is not unique to us.
Scripture actually explains why that tension exists.
And Psalm 2 gives language to something believers have felt in every generation.
God
God
Framing Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 Together
Framing Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 Together
Before we step into Psalm 2, it helps to remember how the book of Psalms begins.
Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are not random.
They are intentionally placed together at the doorway of the Psalms.
Psalm 1 begins with a blessing.
Blessed is the one who delights in the instruction of the Lord.
The one who is planted like a tree by streams of water.
Psalm 1 is about abiding.
Where you plant your life, is what you delight in.
And what quietly shapes you over time.
It shows us the kind of life God calls blessed.
But Psalm 1 also raises a question.
If this is the blessed life, why does choosing it feel so costly?
Why is it so hard to follow God, if God is the one true God of the universe?
That is where Psalm 2 comes in.
Psalm 2 does not describe the blessed life.
It explains why the blessed life will be resisted.
If Psalm 1 shows us formation.
Then Psalm 2 shows us confrontation.
Psalm 1 begins with blessing.
Psalm 2 bookends with blessing.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Together, these two psalms tell us something important.
Abiding in God does not remove pressure.
It reveals where our allegiance really lies.
With that in mind, listen to how Psalm 2 begins.
The World Resists God’s Rule (v.1-3)
The World Resists God’s Rule (v.1-3)
So If Psalm 1 asks where we will plant our lives,
Psalm 2 asks us why that choice is so often difficult and full of opposition
Psalm 2 opens with a question.
Why do the nations rebel?
Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?
This is not confusion.
This is not ignorance.
This is mutiny.
The psalmist describes nations, peoples, kings, and rulers acting together.
This resistance is shared.
It is communal.
It is normalized.
What is interesting, is that they never question if God exists
Nor are they asking who God is.
They are not trying to figure out what He wants.
They know exactly whose authority they are rebelling against
Listen to what they say in verse 3.
Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us!
Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!
God’s rule is described as shackles
God’s ways are described as ropes binding us down
That language should sound familiar, and it probably feels familiar too
This is not the voice of someone saying,
“I do not believe in God.”
This is the voice of someone saying,
“I don’t want God telling me how to live.”
Psalm 2 shows us that resistance to God is rarely framed as rebellion.
It is framed as freedom.
It is framed as overcoming limits.
It is framed as doing what feels right and reasonable.
And it doesn’t take very long to get to this in Scripture.
Genesis 3, the fall of humanity.
Genesis 4, Cain killing Abel.
Genesis 6, the wickedness before the flood.
Genesis 11, the tower of Babel.
Humanity repeatedly choosing to define life on its own terms,
Rather than abiding with the God who promises life.
And notice how they say it.
“Let’s.”
That is, Let us
This is not private rebellion.
This is social agreement.
And while Psalm 2 speaks about nations and rulers,
It is describing a posture that runs through every human heart.
We all want to decide the direction of our own lives rather than trust God to lead us.
That is why resisting God so often feels normal.
It feels shared.
It feels reasonable.
It feels like everyone is moving in the same direction.
Psalm 2 is not surprised by that.
Scripture expects it.
It is showing us what Psalm 1 calls the counsel of the wicked,
So, Psalm 2 lets us hear that counsel out loud,
letting us into the mindset of rebellion against God.
And once you hear it clearly,
You understand why remaining loyal to God will always cost you something
God Reigns Through His King (v.4-9)
God Reigns Through His King (v.4-9)
But Psalm 2 does not leave us staring at the world’s mutiny, or our own participation in it.
It immediately turns our attention to how God responds.
Psalm 2 does not show us a God scrambling to respond.
It shows us a God who is enthroned.
“The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.”
To be enthroned means God is fully in control.
He is not reacting to the world.
Nothing threatens Him, and nothing can harm His reign.
When God laughs here, He is not amused.
God laughs at how absurd their plans are.
Plans that were never going to work.
Then God speaks,
His words bring terror to those who have been plotting in vain.
This kind of terror is familiar to us.
It’s the dread that comes when authority you ignored suddenly becomes unavoidable.
When I first got my license, my parents told me I could only drive with my brother for the first few months.
One day my mom saw me driving around with my best friend instead.
I tried to talk my way out of it.
But there was no way out.
Not because my mom suddenly became angry,
but because the authority I had ignored had just become unavoidable.
And that’s the type of moment Psalm 2 is describing.
God speaks, and the authority that was ignored can no longer be avoided.
“I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
God does not negotiate His rule.
He does not react in panic.
He declares what is already true,
He declares what he will do as the enthroned King
God reigns through His King.
And then the God speaks about this King
“You are my son, this very day I have become your father.”
This is not only authority.
This is a relationship with God
Jesus does not seize power.
He receives it.
It is due to him as the divine royal heir
And notice what is promised to Him?
“Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.”
This matters for our faith, in fact, it is a foundation truth to it!
Jesus did not take a shortcut to the kingdoms of the world.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Satan was offering the nations and all the earth without the cross.
Power without obedience.
Glory without suffering.
Hebrews 5 reminds us this was not a single moment for Jesus, but the pattern of His life.
It says that although Jesus is the son of God,
The son spoken of here in Psalm 2
He learned obedience through what he suffered
Through that obedience, he became the source of our eternal salvation!
After that obedience, Hebrews tells us that God appointed him
He did not claim this authority, it was given by God himself
He received it!
Which means this.
God’s reign over our life does not promise an easier life.
But it does promise a meaningful one.
A life where suffering is not wasted and obedience is not empty.
Jesus did not only walk this path Himself.
He prepared His followers for it.
That’s why He said:
11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me.
12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The same God who calls us to trust Him with the direction of our lives
Has already entrusted the world to His Son.
And that is why allegiance to Jesus is not foolish.
It is grounded in the very authority of Jesus, who received it from God
God reigns.
Jesus reigns at his right hand
Jesus is the installed King.
The nations belong to him as his inheritance
And there is nothing the world does can undo that.
A Call to Allegiance and Refuge (v.10-12)
A Call to Allegiance and Refuge (v.10-12)
If Psalm 2 ended here, it would simply be a declaration of power.
But the psalm does not stop with God enthroned and the King installed.
It turns and speaks directly to us.
And the question it asks is not, “Who is in charge?”
That has already been answered.
The question is, “What will you do with that King?”
In these last two verses,
God’s reign is not presented as a threat to analyze,
but a reality we are invited to respond to.
So after exposing the mutiny of the nations,
After declaring God enthroned,
After installing the King,
The psalm turns and speaks directly to those who hear it.
So now, you kings, do what is wise.
You rulers of the earth, submit yourselves.
Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling.
This is not a threat meant to crush us.
It is a warning wrapped in mercy.
God is not saying, “Figure this out or else.”
He is saying, Now that you know what is true, choose wisely.
Or to put it simply,
Do not stumble into this.
Choose it with eyes open.
And notice the kind of response God calls for.
Not fear without joy.
Nor joy without reverence.
“Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling.”
This is not panic before an unpredictable God.
It is reverent joy before the holy and rightful King.
That kind of joy only makes sense when you have counted the cost in following Jesus
And that brings us to the heart of what Psalm 2 is calling for.
Abiding means staying loyal to Jesus when faith in Jesus becomes costly
Psalm 2 is inviting us to allegiance that is chosen, not accidental.
To loyalty that knows exactly who is King.
This is a call for allegiance.
A loyalty that is no longer undecided,
which recognizes who is King, not just because He is powerful,
but because His reign is real, unavoidable, and good.
Then the psalm gives us one of the most striking images.
“Pay homage to the Son.”
Or as some translations say, “Kiss the Son.”
That word homage means more than respect.
It is a public act of loyalty.
A way of saying, “I place myself under your rule, and I will live according to your authority.”
To kiss the Son is to publicly declare loyalty to the rightful King
It means surrender.
It means trust.
It meant placing yourself under His rule rather than resisting it.
And while Psalm 2 addresses kings and rulers overtly,
It is speaking to everyone,
We all must decide where our allegiance lies.
And the warning is real.
“Otherwise he will become angry, and you will die for your behavior when his anger quickly ignites.”
In other words, our treason has a high cost,
and the opportunity to turn around will not last forever!
God’s patience does not mean indifference to our rebellion.
Refusing allegiance to the king, always has consequences.
Yet, notice how the psalm ends.
“How blessed are all who take shelter in him.”
The psalm does not end with destruction.
It ends with a call to refuge.
Not everyone who hears this psalm will respond the same way.
Some will keep resisting.
Some will keep redefining freedom.
Some will keep pushing against God’s rule.
But others will run to the King.
And that is what abiding looks like in a world that resists Jesus.
It is choosing to remain with Jesus when walking away would be easier.
It is choosing trust when obedience costs something.
It is choosing refuge in Christ rather than false refuges.
Psalm 1 asked where we would plant our lives.
Psalm 2 asks who we will trust when that choice becomes costly.
Psalm 2 is not calling us to panic or withdraw.
It is calling us to loyalty and refuge.
It is choosing to remain with Jesus
Even when walking away would be easier.
It is choosing trust
When obedience costs something.
It is choosing refuge in Jesus
Instead of any refuge of sin
The world will keep raging.
God will remain enthroned.
Jesus will remain King.
The question Psalm 2 leaves us with is simple.
Will we resist Him, or will we take refuge in Him?
Because the blessing of abiding is not found in avoiding the cost.
Blessing is found in belonging to the King, no matter what it may cost
You
You
Psalm 2 does not ask us to merely admire God’s authority.
It asks us to respond to it.
So the question for us is not whether Jesus is King.
That is already the reality
The question is where His kingship presses against our lives.
Because for most of us,
The cost of allegiance does not show up in dramatic moments.
It shows up quietly.
In the ordinary.
In our relationships
Abiding becomes costly when loyalty and allegiance to Jesus begins to put us out of step with the people around us.
For some of us, that cost shows up in friendships.
It looks like choosing honesty instead of going along with what everyone else treats as normal
It looks like leaving a room, a conversation, or a pattern of behavior because staying would slowly shape you away from Christ.
It looks like being misunderstood, or quietly excluded, because your allegiance is no longer shared.
For some of us, that cost shows up at work.
It looks like refusing to cut ethical corners when doing so would benefit you.
It looks like telling the truth when silence would protect your position.
It looks like choosing integrity even when it costs you advancement, approval, or ease.
For some of us, that cost shows up in family dynamics.
It looks like discerning when silence is loving, and when silence would mean being unfaithful.
It looks like choosing faithfulness to Jesus,
Even when it creates tension instead of peace,
Or misunderstanding instead of approval.
For some of us, that cost shows up in dating or romantic relationships.
It looks like not giving your body, your values, or your future to someone who does not share your allegiance to Jesus.
It looks like waiting, or walking away, even when loneliness feels heavier than obedience.
And while the cost shows up in different places for different people, beneath all of this, the cost is always internal.
Before it ever shows up in our relationships or circumstances, it shows up in the heart.
Because the pull toward rebellion is not just out there.
It lives in us.
It is the daily choice to trust Jesus with control
To stop acting as though freedom means doing whatever feels right in the moment.
To stop treating God’s ways as restraints we must escape,
but realizing God’s ways are a refuge where true freedom and life are actually found
A theologian named Thomas Merton once described this pull in the human heart.
He called it a desire for “relative omnipotence.”
Not the power to be God.
But the power to always get what we want.
To do what we want, when we want.
To live as though our will should never be frustrated or opposed.
That desire explains why Psalm 2 sounds so familiar.
Because the rebellion Psalm 2 describes is not just ancient or political.
It is deeply human.
It exposes why God’s rule feels like shackles.
Why obedience feels costly.
Psalm 1 tells us to plant our lives in God’s instruction.
Psalm 2 shows us why we keep wanting to uproot ourselves.
Psalm 2 is honest with us.
Allegiance always costs something.
But it is just as honest about this.
Rebellion costs more.
That is why the psalm does not end with threat.
It ends with a chance, and the hope of refuge.
“How blessed are all who take shelter in him.”
Abiding is not proving your strength.
It is choosing where you run.
And when the cost becomes real, everyone runs somewhere.
Abiding means staying loyal to Jesus when faith in Jesus becomes costly.
So the question is not whether you value Jesus,
But rather,
Where is the cost of valuing Jesus, currently tempting you to compromise?
Because when the cost comes due, you will run somewhere.
Psalm 2 is asking whether you will run toward self-protection,
Or take refuge in the King who already reigns.
Not because obedience is easy,
but because Jesus is your King, and His reign is good.
So the question Psalm 2 leaves us with is personal.
This is what it looks like to abide in real life
Where is your allegiance being tested right now?
And when the cost becomes real,
Where will you run to?
Will you resist the King,
Or
Will you remain loyal to Him?
We
We
Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are meant to be heard together,
They are not just shaping individuals.
They are shaping a people.
Psalm 1 shows us the life God calls blessed,
a people formed slowly, faithfully, and intentionally,
Rooted in our relationship with Jesus and Scripture, not in trends or pressure.
Psalm 2 reminds us that this kind of life will not always be celebrated.
It will be questioned.
It will be resisted.
And at times, it will cost us something.
So as a church, we are not pretending that following Jesus is easy.
And we are not surprised when loyalty becomes costly.
We are choosing to be a people who choose loyalty to Jesus
Not loud.
Not reactionary.
Not angry at the world.
But rooted by the living water of Jesus
Steady on the solid rock of Jesus,
Faithful to where He places us and what He calls us to
A people who know where we are planted, and who we belong to.
A people who choose loyalty to Jesus,
Not only when it is easy,
Not accidentally,
Not by drifting,
But with open eyes and settled hearts,
Even when that loyalty puts us out of step with the world.
That is what it means for us to abide together, and by God’s grace, that is the life we are choosing.
