1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old.

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As one of the court psalmists under King David and later Solomon, Asaph brought a lifetime of knowledge about Israel’s history to his writing. Psalm 78 covers centuries of God’s favor and blessing in the face of disobedience and idolatry on the part of His chosen people. Asaph’s parable of history that reveals the individual sinful heart of each person would be adapted by the coming Messiah for the same end: to show what the kingdom-minded Christ-follower must be like. Parables are subtle. To those who hear but do not listen, a parable may seem like a tidy story with a vaguely moral focus. To those who aren’t paying attention, it’s just noise. But to those whose eyes and ears are trained on Jesus, a parable can teach like nothing else. As Jesus would later phrase it, “For to the one who has, more will be given” (Matthew 13:12).

Whether Asaph knew his words were prophetic we are not told, but Matthew certainly recognized their fulfillment when Jesus began to teach. “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 13:34–35). When God the Father sent His Son, He used Him to reveal “what has been hidden” from our prideful human nature, and He made known the mystery of how God Himself could take on humanity in order to redeem us. And he used the humble parable to do so. As we consider Advent, may we remember this
fulfillment of God’s Word written a thousand years before!

– Dr. Matthew Byrd