The Psalms of Asaph are the twelve psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

 numbered 50 and 73 – 83 of the Book of Psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

. The origin and identity of the person of Asaph

Asaph (Bible)

Asaph is the name of three men from the Old Testament of the Hebrew Bible. The articles related to the son of Berachiah and descendant of Kohath refer to the same person.* Asaph, the father of Joah * Asaph, son of Berachiah the Gershonite...

 is ambiguous, and it is difficult to know whether or not there was an identifiable progenitor for this family name. The Asaphite priests had a pre-exilic role to provide musically-based or induced prophecy

Prophecy

Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

, and a post-exilic role singing praise

Praise

Praise is the act of making positive statements about a person, object or idea, either in public or privately. Praise is typically, but not exclusively, earned relative to achievement and accomplishment...

 to God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

.

Identity of Asaph

The genealogical tables of the Books of Chronicles

Books of Chronicles

The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...

 cite the original Asaph as the son of Berechiah

Berechiah

Berechiah is a Jewish name that occurs several times in the Bible. It is derived from Berakhah, "blessing".-Other people with that name:* Berechiah ha-Nakdan, 13th century writer and fabulist...

 . According to the Chroniclers, the sons of Asaph, Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, were assigned by David to prophesy "to the accompaniment of lyre

Lyre

The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...

s, harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

s, and cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...

s" . In the post-exilic period, the Ezra

Ezra

Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...

/Nehemiah

Nehemiah

Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work rebuilding Jerusalem and purifying the Jewish community. He was the son of Hachaliah, Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the...

 writings cite 148 "...singers: the sons of Asaph..." among the returnees to the Persian

Achaemenid Empire

The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...

 province of Yehud

Yehud Medinata

Yehud Medinata or simply Yehud, was an Achaeminid autonomous province covering Judea and parts of Samaria, located south to Eber-Nari...

(Judah) , although gives the number as 128.