Book III of the Psalter · Psalms 73 to 89 · 17 psalms
The crisis of the throne
This is the shortest book and the darkest. Asaph's psalms ask why the nation is ruined and the wicked are at ease, and the book ends with the covenant God made with David looking broken.
- Sealed by
- Psalm 89:52
- Where it stands in the argument
- Psalm 89 recites the promise that David's throne would stand for ever and then asks where that promise has gone, which is the question Book IV answers.
- Who the headings name
- Asaph, the sons of Korah, David in Psalm 86, Heman the Ezrahite in Psalm 88, and Ethan the Ezrahite in Psalm 89.
Every psalm in Book III
17 doors, coloured by the kind of psalm- Imprecatory 1
- Historical recital 1
- Royal 1
- Wisdom and Torah 1
- Thanksgiving 1
- Lament and trust 8
- Praise 4
The colour is the psalm's primary kind, following the form-critical categories of Hermann Gunkel (Einleitung in die Psalmen, 1933) as set out in C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms (2001). A psalm that carries more than one kind is filed under one of them, and every type is explained on the Psalms page.
The collections inside it
3 gathered groups, in the order they stand- AsaphPsalms 73 to 83
Eleven psalms of Asaph, mostly the complaint of the whole nation rather than of one man.
- The sons of KorahPsalms 84 to 85, 87 to 88
Four more Korah psalms, including the longing for the courts of the LORD and the darkest psalm in the book.
- Ethan the EzrahitePsalms 89
One psalm, and it carries the crisis of the collapsed throne.
The name of God in this book
Both names stand here. The Asaph psalms keep the Elohistic usage of Book II at the start, and the LORD returns as the book goes on.
What the kinds of psalm come to here
- Imprecatory 1
- Historical recital 1
- Royal 1
- Wisdom and Torah 1
- Thanksgiving 1
- Lament and trust 8
- Praise 4
The same nine kinds colour every psalm on this page and on the four other books of the Psalter.
The doxology that seals it
Psalm 89:52, Berean Standard Bible52Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen.
Why the seam is marked
The doxology belongs to the collection rather than to the psalm it closes, which is how the five books can be seen in the text itself. The other four seams stand at Psalms 41:13, 72:18-19, 89:52 and 106:48, and the whole of Psalm 150 closes the Psalter.
Key psalms of Book III
5 doors, with what each one carriesAsaph almost slips until he goes into the sanctuary of God.
The story of Israel told so the next generation will not forget it.
Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
The one psalm that ends in the dark with no turn.
The covenant with David recited, and then the question of where it has gone.
The rest of the Psalter
5 books, 150 psalmsKeep studying
Read it1
On this page
Studies5
Doctrines1