I Will Open My Mouth in a Parable
I Will Speak Dark Sayings of Old
by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.
Chapter 1
The title is from Psalm 78.
Here is Psalm 78 from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version--
___Psalm 78
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law, incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable, I will speak dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We won't hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, that he commanded our fathers, so they would make them known to their children,
6 So that the generation to come would know them, the children that would be born, who would grow up and teach them to their children,
7 So that they would set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments,
8 And wouldn't be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn't set their heart right, and whose spirit was not steady with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10 They didn't keep the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law,
11 And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had shown them.
12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink like out of the great depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 And they sinned against him still more by provoking the most high in the wilderness.
18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
19 Yes, they spoke against God, they said, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
20 See, he struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed, can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people?"
21 Therefore the Lord heard this, and was angry, so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel,
22 Because they didn't believe God, and didn't trust in his salvation,
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had rained down manna on them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25 Man ate angels' food, he sent them food to the full.
26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by his power he brought in the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also on them like dust, and feathered fowls like the sand of the sea,
28 And he let it fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.
29 So they ate, and were well filled, for he gave them their own desire,
30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
31 The anger of God came on them, and killed the fattest of them, and struck down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still, and didn't believe for his wondrous works.
33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in trouble.
34 When he killed them, then they sought him, and they returned and inquired early after God.
35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues.
37 For their heart was not right with him, nor were they steady in his covenant.
38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their sin, and didn't destroy them, yes, he turned his anger away many times, and did not stir up all his anger.
39 For he remembered that they were just flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.
40 How often did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
41 Yes, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They didn't remember his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
43 How he had made his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And had turned their rivers into blood, and their floods, so that they couldn't drink.
45 He sent various sorts of flies among them, that devoured them, and frogs, that destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil spirits among them.
50 He made a way for his anger, he didn't spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham,
52 But made his own people to go out like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them on safely, so that they didn't fear, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, that his right hand had purchased.
55 He threw out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to live in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and didn't keep his testimonies,
57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers, they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
59 When God heard this, he was angry, and found Israel to stink very much,
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent that he placed among men,
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.
62 He gave his people over also to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men, and their young women were not given to marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke like someone out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouts because of wine.
66 And he struck his enemies in the hinder parts, he put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Also he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion that he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth that he has established forever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds,
71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Chapter 2
The title of this book is in verse 2.
When Jesus taught on earth, he spoke many parables. This author has written about many of Jesus' parables.
You have your Parable of the Tares and Wheat. It tells why God doesn't immediately destroy the evil doers. If He were to do that, some of the good people would also be hurt.
Jesus said, “Let both grow together until the harvest, at the end of the world.” Then the angels will sort out the good and the bad.
Verse 8 in this Psalm speaks of a stubborn and rebellious generation. That, of course, is displeasing to God.
You want to try to get on the good side of God, rather than having Him as your enemy.
If you have God as your enemy, now you've got big trouble.
In another Psalm, it says, “Kiss the son so that he's not angry.”
If you don't get along with anyone else, try to make sure that you at least get along with God.
The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psa 111:10)
Jesus said, “I will forewarn you whom to fear. Fear Him who after he has killed can throw you into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear Him.”
Jesus said not to fear man, who after he has killed has nothing else he can do. But fear God, who can not only kill, but put you in hell.
Hell is a nasty place where there's crying and gnashing of teeth, where their worms don't die, and where the fire is never quenched, Jesus said.
And Jesus doesn't tell lies.
In verse 13,
“He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand like a heap.”
God divided the Red Sea so that the Children of Israel could pass through on dry land.
If you're going to cut a path through the sea, what are you going to do with the water that you removed? Well, here's what you do—you pile those waters up in a heap.
Not so easy for man to do, but a piece of cake for God.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
In the travels of the Children of Israel, when water was in short supply, God brought water out of the rock.
24 And had rained down manna on them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25 Man ate angels' food, he sent them food to the full.
But they also wanted flesh to eat, so...
26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by his power he brought in the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also on them like dust, and feathered fowls like the sand of the sea,
28 And he let it fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.
Then it talks about the plagues that God brought against Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go out of Egypt.
43 How he had made his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And had turned their rivers into blood, and their floods, so that they couldn't drink.
45 He sent various sorts of flies among them, that devoured them, and frogs, that destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
51 And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham,
52 But made his own people to go out like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them on safely, so that they didn't fear, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
But later, when Israel sinned against God, he made trouble for them.
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.
62 He gave his people over also to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men, and their young women were not given to marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
Now it speaks of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion that he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth that he has established forever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds,
71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Jesus' genealogy is through the tribe of Judah and King David, not the tribe of Levi.
The disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables. Jesus explained that some people were meant to understand, but some people were meant not to understand.
Some were receptive to the teachings of Jesus. The Bible says, “The common people heard him gladly.”
But some of those in high positions scorned Jesus. He wasn't one of them. He didn't flatter them like they flattered each other.
He didn't fit in with their crowd.
But if they'd known what they were doing, they would have recognized him as the great teacher that he was.
He was, in fact, the Savior of the world, and the Jewish Messiah. And He still is.
___James chapter 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.
2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,
3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,
10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.
11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.
18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.
21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,
24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
___James chapter 2
1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,
3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"
4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
6 But you have despised the poor. Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?
7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?
8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,
9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill." Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.
12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.
14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,
16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?
17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."
19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
___James chapter 3
1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.
4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.
5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how great a matter a little fire kindles!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.
7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,
8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be.
11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries? Or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.
___James chapter 4
1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?
2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.
3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.
5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"
6 But he gives more grace. So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.
11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers. He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?
13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"
14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."
16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.
___James chapter 5
1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire. You've heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.
5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.
6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.
9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.
10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 See, we count them happy that endure. You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.
13 Is anyone among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.
16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.
17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,
20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.