Asaph and Jerusalem

Scaer, Peter. "Asaph and Jerusalem." All Theology Is Christology: Essays in Honor of David P. Scaer.  Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press. 35-47.

Asaph, the temple musician and psalmist from the Davidic and Solomonic period, is not studied much.  When he has been studied, it is primarily through the eyes of 1 Chronicles.  Scaer sets out to study Asaph including the Psalm superscriptions.

Psalms 50 and 73-83 are ascribed to Asaph.  In these psamls we see Asaph has a preference for the name "El" for God.  God as the Judge is common in Asaph's thought.  We also see that Asaph has God speaking directly, not quoted.  Half of the times in the Psalms that this happens, Asaph is the author.  Asaph uses images of sheep and shepherd.  He alludes to the Exodus and wanderings of Israel.  He talks about Joseph and his sons, as opposed to the more common mentions of Jacob and his sons.  

Scaer observes that Joseph and his sons were important players in the Northern Kingdom narratives, while other descendants of Jacob were important players in the South.  Ephraim and Manasseh were the dominant geographical denotations within Israel, being the two tribes which claimed a land inheritance in the stead of Levi.  Shiloh, in Ephraim, is the home of the tabernacle, the center of activity prior to the establishment of the temple in Jerusalem.  Four of the five times that Joseph is mentioned in the psalms, Asaph is the one who wrote the psalm.

It appears, then that maybe Asaph came from the North.  Of course, we have no way of knowing this with certainty, but his emphases certainly suggest it.

Asaph views the temple as the place of God's revelation.  When confronted by evil and even questioning God's goodness, Asaph turns to the temple, seeks God's face there, and finds that God brings solace.

In Psalms 77 and 78, Asaph depicts the sorrow of the dwellers of the Northern Kingdom as it appears that God has departed from the North and established his home in Jerusalem.  He has rejected the Northern Kingdom as the people who have rejected God's covenant.  And in these psalms, Asaph links Moses and David, depicting David as the one who is now raised up to lead Israel.

In many ways Asaph serves to point us to the historic things of our faith.  He expresses God's real presence and steadfastness.  He expresses that God's people are commanded to depend on God for all things.  He emphasizes the joy of following the Lord in all circumstances, even when evil is a prominent feature in our lives.