Introducing the 12 End Time Psalms of Asaph
I. OVERVIEW
A. Introduce the Book of Psalms & End Time Basis
B. Asaph: The Man
C. Asaph’s 12 Songs: His Message
D. Our Mandate
II. THE BOOK OF PSALMS
A. The book of Psalms the largest book in the bible, comprising 150 songs.
B. Psalms, Story, and the power of Music and Song
“Story is the primary way in which the revelation of God is given to us. The Holy Spirit’s literary genre of choice is story…
From beginning to end, our Scriptures are primarily written in the form of story. The biblical story comprises other literary
forms – sermons and genealogies, prayers, and letters, poems and proverbs – but story carries them all in its capacious and
organically intricate plot. And the Holy Spirit weaves all this storytelling into the vast and holy literary architecture that
reveals God to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the way that he chooses to make himself known. Story.”
1. The bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is far more than a collection of commands, moral principles, spiritual
guidelines, examples of obedience, or targets to ‘shoot’ for. Rather, the Sacred Scripture is a Sacred Story. The key to
connecting to the scriptures is to find ourselves in the greatest story of all stories. We are not only included in the sacred
story, our lives actually shape the story.
2. One reason it is so difficult for us to connect to God’s Story in the present is because we can’t fathom that the
pieces and portions of our everyday life are ‘story-worthy.’ Our common day trivialities are not our road blocks to
experiencing God, they are the very on ramps orchestrated by Him. Our jobs, children, financial challenges, car wrecks,
promotions, dinners, taxes, vacations, pressures and breakthroughs are not hurdles to jump over to meet with and
experience God but rather pools of experience to dive into and discover Immanuel, God with us.
“…music reaches the passions without passing through the mind…those who have devoted no study whatever to listening
to it are moved by it…”
“Let me make a nation’s songs, and I care not who makes the laws.”
C. The New Testament cites the Psalms eighty six times, which is more than any other book cited in the Old Testament.
C.H. Spurgeon’s comments concerning his Treasury of David Collection.
“Happy he who for himself knows the secret of the Psalms. Some of them are specially notable, and have, therefore, been
expounded and preached upon on all hands, but others remain almost untrodden ground in sacred literature. Where one
author writes upon a portion of Scripture, write, while other passages remain almost untouched. … As most of the
commentators upon the Psalms proceed in their work they become slovenly, and appear to hurriedly and think
superficially, either because they grow weary of their huge enterprise, or else because they have said their best things
already. Our greatest trouble is occasioned by the fact that the expounders are not impartial, but spend all their love,
or at least their energies, upon favorite portions of the sacred volume, passing by other passages with scarcely a remark,
as if all Scripture were not equally inspired. Of many a text we have had to sigh, “Few there be that find it.” We are writing
of the Psalms, the best read portion of the Old Testament, and therefore the fact the more singular. We have thousands
of writers, of one kind or another, but they go in flocks, like sheep, traversing only the same texts and passages. For
want of a conscientious effort to expound the whole of Scripture, much of it lies as little considered as if it had never
been written for our instruction.
D. The Psalms are a ‘Book’ of 5 Smaller Books
42 Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “ Sit at My right hand, (Lk 20:42)
20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another
take his office.’ (Acts 1:20)
E. The Book of Psalms is divided into 5 five smaller sections or books as well. The five books are each divided by a
doxology. They are divided as follows:
1. Book 1: Ps. 1-41 consisting of 38 named Davidic psalms; 3 unnamed psalms (Ps.1, 10, 33).
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. (Ps 41:13)
2. Book 2: Ps. 42-72 consisting of 8 psalms of the sons of Korah (Ps. 42-49); 1 PSALM OF ASPAH (PS. 50);
21 named psalms of David (Ps. 51-65, 68, 69, 70); 3 unnamed psalms (Ps. 66, 67, 71) A Psalm of Solomon (Ps. 72)
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! 19 And blessed be His glorious name
forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are
ended. (Ps 72:18-20)
3. Book 3: Ps. 73-89 consisting of 11 PSALMS OF ASPAH (PS. 73-83); 4 psalms of the sons of Korah (Ps. 84, 85,
87, 88); 1 named psalm of David (Ps. 86), and a psalm of Ethan (Ps. 89).
52 Blessed be the LORD forevermore! Amen and Amen. (Ps 89:52)
4. Book 4: Ps.90-106 consisting of a psalm of Moses (Ps. 90); 10 unnamed Psalms (Ps. 91-100, 102, 104, 105, 106);
and 2 named psalms of David (Ps. 101, 103).
47 Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in
Your praise. 48 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the LORD! (Ps 106:47-48)
5. Book 5: Ps.107-150 consisting of 13 unnamed psalms (Ps. 107, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,
135, 136, 137); 12 named psalms of David (Ps.108, 109, 110, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145); 15 Songs of
Ascents (120-134); the conclusive sequential 5 Hallel psalms (Ps. 146-150) where each psalm features a double Hallel,
one at the beginning and one at the end, in a sense responding to the last words of the previous psalm, 145:21,
“…my mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.
F. History of Psalms Interpretation
1. Historically speaking, the majority of all Psalms interpreters recognize: “…its rubrics (rule for conduct of a liturgical
service), the headings and doxologies, as an intrinsic part of the text…having a bearing on interpretation, and the
doxologies as indicating a fivefold ‘book’ division” as well as “…the Psalms as foretelling eschatological events,
interpreting them of Messiah, eschatological war, the ingathering of Israel, and so on. The great exception to the
general dominance of these views is the period of 1820-1970.”
2. Not surprisingly it was during this period that much skeptical liberal theology was birthed out of the 3 fold
combination of (1) Darwin’s theory of evolution (Origin of Species by Natural Selection in 1859), (2) Einstein’s Theory
of General Relativity in 1919 and (3) two World Wars.
G. The Psalms are Purposefully Arranged
1. The predominant view of from 1800-1970 was that the Psalms were not purposefully arranged (see pervious) but
were gradually accumulated and put together in a piecemeal, disorderly fashion.
2. Psalms as Future-Predictive Prophecy Concerning Both of Jesus’ Comings
a. Texts from the Psalms were frequently used by New Testament Jewish believers to verify Jesus’ Messianic claims
to fellow Jewish hearers and readers. In other words, the Psalms were understood as being future-predictive, or prophetic
in nature.
b. Jesus Himself recognized and endorsed not only the Law and the Prophets as prophetic, but also the Psalms.
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” (Lk 24:44)
c. Jesus says that these three prophetic ‘book collections’ all testified of things concerning Jesus that must be
‘fulfilled.’ This obviously includes but is not limited to the fact that Jesus would come as the Servant to suffer at the
hands of sinners before He would come as King.
d. In the same way that the Law and the Prophets often blurred the lines of Jesus’ two comings, so also do the
Psalms (for example, see Ps. 2, 22). Therefore, the Psalms still have many things to glean from that ‘must be fulfilled”
concerning Jesus, especially as it pertains to His second coming.
III. ASAPH: THE MAN
A. Asaph - was 1 of 3 “chiefs” or directors (Neh. 12:46) appointed by David and the leaders of the Levites
(1 Chron. 15:16-17; Heman, “the singer” and Jeduthun/Ethan were the other two); ministered regularly before the Lord
(1 Chron. 16:37); commanded to “prophesy” with musical instruments under the supervision of the king (1 Chron. 25:1-2);
described as a “seer” (2 Chron. 29:30, as all three music directors were: 1 Chron. 25:5; 2 Chron. 35:15); “appointed…
to commemorate/make remembrance, thank, and praise the Lord God of Israel.” (1 Chron. 16:4).
B. Asaph’s Prominent Worship Lineage
1. King Solomon - The Asaphites, Hemanites, and the Jeduthunites ministered in Solomon’s temple (1 Chron. 25:9).
2. King Jehoshaphat - Jahaziel (2 Chron. 20:14) was an Asaphite who prophesied of the Lord’s divine intervention in
face of national disaster against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mout Seir. The result was that they positioned singers
before the army resulting in “the multitude….fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.”
3. King Hezekiah - the Asaphites took part in Hezekiah’s reform (2 Chron. 29:13, 25-30). Additionally, it is possible
that Joah, the ‘son of Asaph’ was also an Asaphite and played an important role (recorder, mazkir, or recorder) in rallying
and withstanding Sennacherib’s (king of Assyria) national threat (2 Kings 18-19; Is. 36-37) resulting in the Lord defending
the city and slaying 185,000. It is noteworthy that Hezekiah commanded the Levites to sing not only the songs of David,
but also of Asaph (2 Chron. 29:30).
4. King Josiah - Asaphites took part and were in place for Josiah’s reform (2 Chron. 35:15).
5. Post-Exilic - the only Levitical singers to return were the Asaphites, apart from one Jeduthunite (Neh. 7:44, 11:17, 22,
12:35).
IV. ASPAH’S 12 SONGS: HIS MESSAGE
A. Asaph is ascribed authorship of 12 psalms (50, 73-83) comprising only 8% of the psalms. This group of 12 psalms
have a handful of unique and striking characteristics:
1. Gather - it is not an accident that the name Asaph actually means “gather/remove reproach” There is a gathering
theme in these psalms which includes (2) the gathering of Israel; (2) the hostile nations against Israel; (3) and the world
to be gathered and watch. This is further strengthened by the 4 references to Joseph (Ps. 77:15; 78:67; 80:1; 81:5) who
is mentioned nowhere else in the psalms. Joseph’s name means the same as Asaph’s respectively (Gen. 30:23-24) and
he is also noted for ingathering the 12 tribes (Gen. 42:17; 45:19-46:27) of Israel as well as food for the 7 year famine
(Gen. 41:48).
2. Jacob - Asaph’s psalm also show interest in Jacob. Jacob is referred to 9/34 (more than ¼) in these 12 psalms.
There are numerous reasons to the highlighting of Jacob that are concurrent to end time themes including Jacob’s
trouble (Jer. 30:7); the establishing of God’s dwelling place or habitation related to night and day worship
(Gen. 28:12-17; Ps. 132:2,5; Is. 49:26; Is. 60:16; Eph 1:10); Jacob as a ‘gatherer’ of the 12 tribes like Joseph
(Gen. 49:1-2);
3. Judgment - the context that all are gathered together for is for a court-judgment that God the Judge of the earth
presides over (Ps. 50:4, 6-7; 74:22; 75:2, 7-8; 76:8-9, 82:1, 8. The opening psalm of Asaph (Ps. 50) is a call to gather
all to a court proceeding. This same imagery is also used for the end times in Daniel 7 and Revelation 4-5.
4. Divine Oracles - Asaph, as a prophetic-seer, utters a significant amount of divine oracles attributing the direct
speech of God. There are only 15 psalms containing divine oracles of this nature in all of the psalms, 4 of which occur
in the psalms of Asaph (Ps. 50:5-23; 75:2-5; 81:8-16; 82:2-4, 6-7). The other oracles are found in Ps. 2, 12, 46, 60,
62, 68, 87, 89, 91, 95, 110, and 132.
5. Prayer & Worship - Ps. 50:15, 23; 75:9; 77:1-12; 79:13; 80:1; 81:1-3
6. Global Ultimacy - Ps. 50:1-4; 75:3, 6, 8; 76:8-9, 12; 79:6; 82:8; 83:4
7. Military Crisis, Calamity, Destruction, and Deliverance from Gentile Nations - Ps. 74:4-8, 10, 22; Ps. 75:10;
76:3-6; 76:8-9; 79:1-4, 6-7, 11; 80:2-3, 7, 16; 81:14 ; 82:8; 83:4-18
8. Cry for Yahweh to Come/Awake/Arise and Save - Ps. 50:3; 74:3,22;79:8-9;80:2,14;82:8
9. Remember - Asaph was appointed by David to ‘make remembrance’ to the Lord (1 Chron.16:4). In his 12 psalms,
God is called upon to “remember” His people and to forget their sin 4 times. Additionally, the psalmist personally ‘brings
to remembrance” the faithfulness of God. Furthermore, the psalmist remembers and recounts the historical intervention
of God 4 times (Ps. 74:12-17; 76:1-6; 77:16-20; 78 all). This function of remembrancing is the same function that the
watchmen on the wall participate in.
6 … You who make mention of (remember) the LORD, do not keep silent, (Is 62:6)
B. The 12 psalms of Asaph
1. Psalm 50 - Jesus is coming to judge His people Israel and the nations. His coming will be in context to a “day of trouble”
in which the only safe place is to the place of prayer (v.15), worship (v.23), and obedience (v.23).
2. Psalm 73 - the day of trouble (Ps. 50:15, culminating in Ps. 83) will be so severe that God’s goodness will be
severely questioned because of the prosperity of the wicked, but the psalmist remembers that he has nothing if he does
not have God, his portion.
3. Psalm 74 - the day of trouble progresses and the nations have desolated, damaged, and defiled the temple
(that is not built or functioning yet) while the psalmist remembers and intercedes for God’s saving intervention. The
nations conclude to utterly destroy them.
4. Psalm 75 - the psalmist gives thanks for some wondrous works because of unnamed divine intervention(s).
Jesus prophecies of His wrath that He will pour out on the wicked nations and the psalmist sings praises.
5. Psalm 76 - God is remembered in His unexpected supernatural military interventions in saving and defending
Jerusalem and terrifying the kings of the earth.
6. Psalm 77 - the psalmist wholly intercedes in an extremely personal way to God in the day (time frame) of trouble,
remembering His works of old.
7. Psalm 78 - the psalmist remembers God’s mercy despite Israel’s consistent failures.
8. Psalm 79 - the day of trouble progresses and the nations have surrounded and destroyed parts of Jerusalem
killing many. There are still those who are “in Jerusalem” being scorned who cry out and repent.
9. Psalm 80 - the psalmist cries out “HEAR! Restore! Return! Revive us!” and do for us what you did in the days of
Egypt (v.8) letting Your hand be upon a Man to deliver us (v.17) and we will obey You!
10. Psalm 81 - this is the music before the battle as the enemies of the nations have completely surrounded those
that are left. A divine oracle announces once again that obedience is the condition for deliverance.
11. Psalm 82 - God STANDS to judge the gods (powers and principalities of the air) sentencing them to the same
fate as men. The psalmist cries “ARISE…judge of the erath, for You shall inherit all nations.”
12. Psalm 83 - a 10-member alliance of nations will be dealt with like Midian was with Gideon (Judges 17:22 - 300
men with trumpets, empty pitcher, and a torch and declared, “the sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon!”)
See also Is. 9:4.
V. OUR MANDATE
A. “Sing praises with understanding.” (Ps. 47:7)
B. Behold (2 Chron. 29:30) and prophecy (1 Chron. 25:1-2) audibly in music what you see visually.
C. Sing from the ends of the earth (Is. 42:10) the end time Psalms of Asaph, remembering, thanking, and praising the
Lord for His supernatural, miraculous, redemptive intervention in Israel’s history as was the command of King Hezekiah
(2 Chron. 29:30).