How Wide Can You Open Your Mouth?

Scripture describes Psalm 81 as “Of Asaph. For the Director of Music.” We know Jon Meyer is the Director of Music (he’s our favorite one anyway!), but who is Asaph? The Old Testament gives us some interesting clues as to who wrote today’s psalm as well as eleven more. If you’ll allow me, I suggest to you Asaph was a “most interesting man in the world” kind of guy, a Renaissance man of his day.

We know King David personally appointed Asaph as chief minister before the sacred Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle (I Chron 16). In this capacity, Asaph led the people in praise as a songwriter, vocalist and musician who probably played multiple instruments. He went on to be the director of music in King Solomon’s temple as well (2 Chron 5:12). He is described as “Asaph the seer” in 1 Chronicles 29:30, which means he was also a prophet, as we will see today in Psalm 81. In this amazing song of praise and repentance, the multi-gifted Asaph quotes God directly and gives it to us as poetry.