פירוש על קידושין 62:3

It aided him: While he was still bent before him; such that he understood one of the psalms in the book of Psalms that he had not understood [how] to expound beforehand. And some explain that he only expounded this one verse (Psalm 79:1): "A Song of Asaph, God, the nations invaded your inheritance" - It should have stated, "A Lament of Asaph." And he expounded thus - that Asaph said a song that the Holy One, blessed be He, consumed His anger on wood and stone that was in His house; and because of this, exonerated the survivors in Israel. For were it not for this, Israel (lit. the enemies of Israel) would not have left any survivors. And this is what it says, (Lamentations 4:11) "The Lord has spent His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger, and He has kindled a fire in Zion."

It aided him: While he was bent over him, he understood and expounded "A song for Asaf; God, the gentiles have entered Your inheritance." For he could not understand it before this and expound it. And some explain that just this verse itself [and not the chapter] did he expound, "It should not be 'Song' for Asaf, rather 'Lamentation' for Asaf! And he expounded that Asaf sang for the fact that God spent His anger on sticks and stones of His house, and thus allowed Israel to survive. For if not for that, he would not have allowed even one Israelite (lit. the enemies of Israel) to survive. And so, the verse states (Lamentations 4:11), "God spent His anger and a fire went out in Zion." So explains Rashi. But there is a Midrash that Asaf said song because the gates sank into the ground. It is compared to a maidservant who went to draw water from the well and whose pitcher fell into the well. She became distraught and began to cry - until the king’s maidservant came to draw water carrying a golden pitcher, and it too, fell into the well. At which point the first maidservant began to sing. ‘Till now’, she exclaimed, I didn’t think that anybody would retrieve my cheap earthenware pitcher from the well. But now, whoever retrieves the golden pitcher, will retrieve mine as well!’ In the same way, when the sons of Korach, who were swallowed up inside the earth, saw how the gates of the Temple sunk into the ground, they proclaimed ‘Whoever rescues the gates will also rescue us!’ That explains why Asaf, who was from the family of Korach, said ‘Mizmor.’

"Until he woke up, he received support for the matter and Avimi expounded (Psalms 79) Mizmor Le'Asaf" - See Rashi, and Tosafot, and the Chiddushei Aggadot of the Meharsha z”l. In my humble opinion, it seems to be that the simple explanation is that regarding Avimi fulfilling the commandment of Kibud very well, that after he had brought the water requested of him, he added to that by standing over him until he awoke, that was not necessary except to fulfill the commandment on an extra level. He perceived this, and merited to understand Mizmor L’asaf. This is not Mizmor 79 that Rashi and Tosafot say, but rather Mizmor 73, which is the beginning of the words of Asaf, who says (Psalms 73:2-3) “But as for me, my feet had almost turned away, in an instant my steps would have been swept away. For I envied the perverse; I would see the tranquility of the wicked.” That whole Mizmor is about being very pained about the length of the exile, like it is also written, (Psalms 73:17) “Until I came to the sanctuaries of God, and I understood their end.” Almost all Mizmor L’asaf chapters are about the length of the last exile by the hands of the descendants of Esau, and that Mizmor ends, “You lead me with Your counsel, and after honor You receive for me.” And there is a Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 808:12), “Said Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira, “You lead me with your counsel of the Torah, after (achar) honor You receive for me, the great honor that Esau did for his parents, that You will eventually grant us. Rav Huna said in the name of R. Nechunya, The honor of Jacob was delayed (icher) in this world, because of the great honor that Esau showed his parents,” see at length in the Yalkut. And what we find with Esau is exactly what is described in the story of Avimi, who got up for his father, and would always feed him and give him drink. And if so, with this did Avimi gain “support for the matter”, that he understood in the lines of Asaf in those Mizmors. That is, it states “Mizmor L’asaf” because all Esau had as good deeds was this honor, which gave him such prosperity in this world, and from that you can learn the great merit of the righteous in this world and the next, which is how the Midrash ends, “After honor You receive for me,” that You will eventually grant to us. So it seems to me as correct, with God’s help, were it not for Rashi and Tosafot writing differently, that it refers to Psalm 79, and even according to what I wrote it makes sense to also refer to Mizmor 79, but it seems that the real main derash [of Avimi] is the beginning of the Mizmor L’asafs. And it’s possible that all of these are the same, and you should look and you will find, and perhaps the Omnipresent granted me from Heaven with this [idea].

"He received support for the matter, and expounded (Psalm 79) 'A Song for Asaf, God, the gentiles have entered your inheritance'"- Rashi explains... But in the Yerushalmi, he expounded another matter, that since Asaf, who was from the descendants of Korach, saw that the gates of the Temple sunk into the ground, he became happy, and he said, “The One who will eventually raise these gates will raise my grandfather.” It is compared to a poor man’s daughter who was drawing water from a well with a wooden bucket, and it falls into the well, and she cried. The king's daughter then came and drew with a golden bucket, and it fell into the well. When she saw that, the poor daughter became happy. She said, the one who will retrieve the bucket of the king’s daughter will bring mine up as well.

Abimi, R. Abahu’s son, was particularly scrupulous in performing the mitzvah of honoring his father. Interestingly, his father is again asleep.
Rashi asks what is so special about Psalm 79? He explains that this Psalm really should be a lament to Asaf, for in it the Temple is defiled and destroyed. The darshan, however, explains the positive side—while the Temple is destroyed, the people were not all killed. God took God’s full wrath out on stones, and thereby a remnant of the people was saved.