Asaph (אָסָף) is a proper name from the root asaph (to gather, collect). The most important bearer is the Levite musician whom David appointed as chief musician before the ark (1 Chronicles 15:17; 16:5). Twelve psalms bear his name (Psalms 50, 73–83). Asaph was a seer as well as a musician (2 Chronicles 29:30).
Asaph's psalms represent some of the Bible's most honest wrestling with theodicy — the problem of evil and divine justice. Psalm 73 opens with a crisis: the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer. Asaph nearly slipped (73:2) until he "entered the sanctuary of God" (73:17) and saw eternal reality. Worship realigns the worshiper's perspective with God's perspective. This movement — from confusion to clarity through encounter with God — is the spiritual journey Asaph's psalms model for every believer who has ever wondered why the wicked prosper.