I Will Open My Mouth in Parables
(Matthew 13:34–35)
A Maskil 1of Asaph.
Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; Isa 51:4Isa 55:32Ch 15:1-16Jdg 5:3Pro 8:4-6Psa 49:1-3Psa 50:7Psa 74:1
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables; Mat 13:34-35Mat 13:11-13Mrk 4:34Psa 49:4Pro 1:6
I will utter things hidden from the beginning, 2
that we have heard and known Psa 44:1Exo 12:26-27Exo 13:14-15Exo 13:8Psa 48:8
and our fathers have relayed to us.
We will not hide them from their children, Deu 11:19Deu 4:9Jol 1:3Psa 145:4-6Deu 6:7Psa 71:17-18Psa 10:1-5Jos 4:6-7
but will declare to the next generation
the praises of the LORD and His might,
and the wonders He has performed.
For He established a testimony in Jacob Eph 6:4Deu 4:45Deu 6:7Gen 18:19Psa 81:5Deu 11:19Isa 38:19Isa 8:20
and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the coming generation would know them— Jol 1:3Psa 102:18Deu 4:10Est 9:28Psa 145:4Psa 22:31Psa 90:16Jos 22:24-25
even children yet to be born—
to arise and tell their own children
that they should put their confidence in God, Deu 5:29Rev 14:121Jn 5:3Deu 4:9Jhn 14:21-241Jn 3:22-24Jer 17:7-8Deu 8:11
not forgetting His works,
but keeping His commandments.
Then they will not be like their fathers, Psa 78:37Exo 32:92Ki 17:14Ezk 20:18Deu 31:27Act 7:512Ch 30:7Deu 9:13
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose heart was not loyal,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
The archers of Ephraim 1Sa 31:1Deu 1:41-44Jos 17:16-18Psa 78:571Sa 4:10Jdg 20:39Jdg 9:281Ch 12:2
turned back on the day of battle.
They failed to keep God’s covenant Deu 31:20Deu 31:16Jdg 2:10-12Neh 9:26-292Ki 17:14-15Jer 31:32
and refused to live by His law.
They forgot what He had done, Psa 106:13Deu 32:18Jer 2:32Psa 106:21-22Psa 78:7
the wonders He had shown them.
He worked wonders before their fathers Num 13:22Ezk 30:14Isa 19:11Deu 6:22Exo 7:1Isa 19:13Psa 135:9Deu 4:34
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
He split the sea and brought them through; Exo 14:21Exo 15:8Jos 3:16Psa 106:9-10Psa 136:13-15Psa 66:61Co 10:2-3Hab 3:15
He set the waters upright like a wall.
He led them with a cloud by day Psa 105:39Exo 13:21-22Exo 14:24Exo 40:35-38Neh 9:12Neh 9:19
and with a light of fire all night.
He split the rocks in the wilderness Exo 17:6Num 20:11Psa 105:411Co 10:4Psa 114:8Isa 41:18Isa 43:20Isa 48:21
and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
He brought streams from the stone Num 20:10-11Deu 8:15Num 20:8Psa 105:41Deu 9:21
and made water flow down like rivers.
But they continued to sin against Him, Isa 63:10Deu 9:8Heb 3:16-19Deu 9:12-22Psa 106:13-32Psa 95:8-10Psa 78:32
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
They willfully tested God Num 11:4Deu 6:161Co 10:9Psa 106:14-151Co 10:6Exo 16:2-3Jas 4:2-3Psa 95:9
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying, Num 21:5Num 11:4Exo 16:3Exo 16:8-10Psa 23:5Num 11:13Num 20:3Job 34:37
“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
When He struck the rock, water gushed out Num 20:11Num 11:21-23Gen 18:12-14Num 11:18Psa 78:41Exo 17:6-7
and torrents raged.
But can He also give bread
or supply His people with meat?”
Therefore the LORD heard 1Co 10:11Jud 1:5Num 11:1-3Heb 12:29Num 11:101Co 10:5Deu 32:22Psa 78:31
and was filled with wrath;
so a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and His anger flared against Israel,
because they did not believe God Heb 3:18-19Jud 1:5Deu 1:32Heb 11:6Heb 3:121Jn 5:10Isa 7:9Psa 106:24
or rely on His salvation.
Yet He commanded the clouds above Gen 7:11Mal 3:102Ki 7:19Psa 33:92Ki 7:2Isa 5:6
and opened the doors of the heavens.
He rained down manna for them to eat; Exo 16:4Psa 105:40Deu 8:3Jhn 6:31-71Exo 16:14Neh 9:15Neh 9:20Psa 68:9
He gave them grain from heaven. 3
Man ate the bread of angels; Exo 16:8Mat 14:20Mat 15:37Psa 103:20
He sent them food in abundance.
He stirred the east wind from the heavens Num 11:31Psa 135:7
and drove the south wind by His might.
He rained meat on them like dust, Exo 16:12-13Num 11:18-19Num 11:32
and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
He felled them in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled, Num 11:19-20Psa 106:15
for He gave them what they craved.
Yet before they had filled their desire, Num 11:33-34Luk 16:19-23Num 22:20-22Pro 1:32
with the food still in their mouths,
God’s anger flared against them, Isa 10:16
and He put to death their strongest
and subdued the young men of Israel.
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; Jhn 12:37Ezk 20:13Luk 16:31Psa 78:22Num 14:1-45Psa 78:11Num 16:1-17Num 21:1-6
despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
So He ended their days in futility, 4 Num 14:35Num 14:29Num 26:64-65Deu 2:14-16Ecc 12:13-14Ecc 1:13-14Ecc 1:2Ecc 12:8
and their years in sudden terror.
When He slew them, they would seek Him; Hos 5:15Num 21:7Jdg 3:12-15Hos 7:14Isa 26:6Jdg 10:7-10Jdg 3:8-9Jdg 4:3
they repented and searched for God.
And they remembered that God was their Rock, Deu 32:4Isa 41:14Exo 15:13Tit 2:14Deu 32:15Deu 7:8Isa 48:17Deu 15:15
that God Most High 5was their Redeemer.
But they deceived Him with their mouths, Ezk 33:31Isa 29:13Deu 5:28-29Hos 11:12Isa 57:11Psa 106:12-13Psa 18:44
and lied to Him with their tongues.
Their hearts were disloyal to Him, Act 8:21Psa 78:8Psa 51:10Deu 31:20Hos 10:2Hos 7:14Hos 7:16Psa 119:80
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
And yet He was compassionate; Ezk 20:17Isa 48:9Num 14:18-202Ki 21:20Exo 34:6-9Ezk 20:13-14Ezk 20:21-22Isa 44:21-22
He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.
He often restrained His anger
and did not unleash His full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh, Gen 6:3Jas 4:14Job 7:7Job 7:16Job 10:9Psa 103:14-16Jhn 3:6
a passing breeze that does not return.
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness Eph 4:30Psa 95:8-10Heb 3:15-17Isa 63:10Num 14:11Deu 9:21-22Isa 7:13Psa 106:14-33
and grieved Him in the desert!
Again and again they tested God Num 14:22Heb 3:8-11Act 7:39Deu 6:162Pe 2:21-22Num 14:4Psa 78:19-202Ki 19:22
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember His power 6— Jdg 8:34Jer 32:21Exo 14:12Psa 78:11Psa 106:7-10Psa 136:10-15Exo 13:9Isa 11:11
the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
when He performed His signs in Egypt Exo 4:21Deu 6:22Exo 3:19-20Deu 4:34Exo 7:3Neh 9:10Psa 105:27-38Psa 135:9
and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
He turned their rivers to blood, Psa 105:29Exo 7:17-21Rev 16:3-6
and from their streams they could not drink.
He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, Exo 8:21-24Exo 8:2-15Psa 105:30-31Rev 16:3
and frogs that devastated them.
He gave their crops to the grasshopper, Exo 10:12-15Psa 105:34-35Amo 7:1-2Jol 1:4-7Jol 2:25Rev 9:2-11
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
He killed their vines with hailstones Exo 9:18-34Psa 105:32-33
and their sycamore-figs with sleet. 7
He abandoned their cattle to the hail Exo 9:19Exo 9:28
and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
He unleashed His fury against them, 1Ki 22:21-222Sa 24:16Exo 12:13Exo 15:7Lam 4:11Psa 11:6Isa 42:25Job 1:12
wrath, indignation, and calamity—
a band of destroying angels.
He cleared a path for His anger; Ezk 7:42Pe 2:4-5Exo 9:3-6Ezk 8:18Ezk 9:10Rom 8:32Ezk 5:11Ezk 7:9
He did not spare them from death
but delivered their lives to the plague.
He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, Psa 105:23Psa 106:22Psa 135:8Psa 105:36Psa 136:10Exo 12:29-30Exo 13:15Exo 12:12
the virility in the tents of Ham.
He led out His people like sheep Neh 9:12Psa 77:20Isa 63:11-14Jhn 10:11-42Isa 40:11Luk 15:4-6Psa 100:3Psa 105:37
and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
He led them safely, so they did not fear, Exo 14:19-20Exo 15:10Exo 14:27-28Exo 14:15Heb 11:29Psa 136:15
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
He brought them to His holy land, Exo 15:17Psa 44:3Dan 11:45Dan 9:16-20Eph 1:14Exo 15:13Isa 11:9Psa 68:16
to the mountain His right hand had acquired.
He drove out nations before them Jos 13:7Psa 44:2Neh 9:22-25Deu 6:10-12Jos 6:1-21Num 33:54Psa 105:44-45Psa 136:18-22
and apportioned their inheritance;
He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, Jdg 2:11-122Ki 17:7-23Deu 31:16-20Deu 32:15-21Ezk 16:15-26Neh 9:25-26Psa 78:40-41
for they did not keep His decrees.
They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, Hos 7:16Ezk 20:27-28Jdg 3:5-7Psa 78:8Jdg 3:12Psa 78:10-37Psa 78:41
twisted like a faulty bow.
They enraged Him with their high places Deu 32:21Lev 26:301Co 10:221Ki 12:311Ki 11:7Deu 12:2Deu 32:16-17Exo 20:4-5
and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
On hearing it, God was furious Psa 106:40Lam 2:7Deu 32:19Gen 18:20-21Lev 20:23Lev 26:44Psa 11:4Psa 14:2-5
and rejected Israel completely.
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, Jos 18:11Sa 4:4-11Jer 26:6-91Sa 1:3Jer 7:12-14
the tent He had pitched among men.
He delivered His strength to captivity, Psa 132:81Sa 4:171Sa 4:21Jdg 18:302Ch 6:41Exo 40:34Psa 24:7Psa 63:2
and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
He surrendered His people to the sword 1Sa 4:2Psa 89:381Sa 4:10-11Isa 64:9
because He was enraged by His heritage.
Fire consumed His young men, Jer 7:34Jer 16:9Num 11:1Deu 29:20Deu 32:22Isa 4:1Jer 25:10Psa 78:21
and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
His priests fell by the sword, 1Sa 4:17Job 27:151Sa 22:18-191Sa 4:11Ezk 24:231Sa 2:33-341Sa 4:19-20
but their widows could not lament.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Psa 44:23Isa 51:9Psa 7:6Isa 42:13-14Psa 73:20
like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
He beat back His foes; 1Sa 5:6Jer 23:40Job 40:121Sa 6:4
He put them to everlasting shame.
He rejected the tent of Joseph 1Sa 6:212Sa 6:172Sa 6:2
and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
But He chose the tribe of Judah, Psa 87:2Gen 49:8-10Psa 132:12-141Sa 16:12Ch 6:6Rut 4:17-22
Mount Zion, which He loved.
He built His sanctuary like the heights, 1Ki 6:1-38Isa 51:61Ch 29:11Ch 29:191Ki 9:81Sa 2:82Ch 2:92Ch 3:4
like the earth He has established forever.
He chose David His servant 1Sa 16:11-12Act 13:221Ki 19:19-201Sa 17:15-542Sa 3:182Sa 6:212Sa 7:8Amo 7:14-15
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from tending the ewes He brought him 2Sa 5:21Ch 11:21Pe 5:21Sa 10:11Sa 2:7-8Ezk 34:23-24Gen 33:13Isa 40:11
to be shepherd of His people Jacob,
of Israel His inheritance.
So David shepherded them with integrity of heart 1Ki 9:42Ti 2:15Isa 11:2-41Ki 15:5Act 13:22Psa 101:1-81Ki 3:281Ki 3:6-9
and guided them with skillful hands.