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Asaph." The Hebrew word Maschil is from the word Sakal, which means, "to look at,"
"to scrutinize," and the term Maschil means, "an understanding arising from a deep
consideration" (Neh. 8: 8). The title of the Psalm prepares us for deep instruction:--
"Give ear, O my people, to My law,
Incline your ear to the words of My mouth.
I will open My mouth in a parable,
I will utter dark sayings of old."
The remaining portion of the Psalm is a rehearsal of the history of Israel from Moses
to David, showing the inner reasons of their failures. Take for example verse 9 and 10:--
"The children of Ephraim, armed, carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle."
Why?
"They kept not the covenant of God,
and refused to walk in His law."
From this we may infer that a parable urges us to consider deeply the ways of God
with His people, and to look for the hidden causes and workings which are veiled from
the eyes of the uninstructed.
That a parable has some connection with a secret, a reference to Matt. 13: will prove.
There for the first time in the New Testament do we read the word "mystery" or "secret,"
and there for the first time occurs the word "parable." Further, the Lord Jesus translates
the words, "I will utter dark sayings of old," by the words, "I will utter things which have
been kept secret since the overthrow (katabole) of the world" (Matt. 13: 35).
The first parable of the Bible is one which concerns the people of Israel in relation to
their separate calling as a distinct nation and peculiar people:--
"And he took up his parable and said, `Balak king of Moab hath brought me from
Aram, out of the mountains of the East, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and, come, defy
Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy whom the
Lord hath not defied?'" (Num. 23: 7; so also 23: 18; 24: 3, 15).
In Heb. 9: 9 and 11: 19 we find the word translated, "a figure." A parable and a
proverb are much alike. The parable of Matt. 15: 13-15 might be termed a proverb.
Indeed the word translated "proverb" in Luke 4: 23 is really "parable." The words,
"Physician, heal thyself," are called in the original a "parable." That a "proverb" carried
the same hidden teaching as did the "parable and dark sayings" can be seen by referring
to John 16: 25 and 29:--
"These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs, the hour cometh when I shall no
more speak unto you in proverbs, but I will shew you plainly of the Father."
In the Old Testament we have "type," in the Gospels we have "parable," and in the
Epistles we have "doctrine," as the more prominent features. The parables lead us to
contemplate the hidden causes of the failure of Israel in relation to the kingdom, and look
forward to the time when all will be put right.