His concern was for the glory of God’s name (vv. 9, 12), and he felt that a miraculous deliverance for Judah would accomplish that, but no deliverance came. Asaph was quick to confess his own sins and the sins of his contemporaries, for it was not only their ancestors who had disobeyed the Lord (v. 8). (See 25:11, 31:3, 65:3, and 78:38.) In ancient days, a nation’s victory was proof that its gods were stronger than the gods of the enemy, so the Babylonians taunted the Jews and asked, “Where is your God?” (See 42:3, 10; 115:2.) Moses used this same argument when he pled with God to forgive the nation (Ex. 32:12; Num. 14:13).
Asaph was also concerned about the justice of God. Twice he mentioned the pouring out of blood (vv. 3, 10), the slaughter of people, for the blood was very sacred to the Jews (Lev. 17). The shedding of animal blood at the altar at least covered the sins of the worshippers, but to what purpose was the shedding of so much human blood? In verse 11, he prayed on the basis of the Lord’s great compassion, perhaps remembering Jehovah’s words to Moses (Ex. 33:12–23; and see Deut. 32:36). God had felt the burdens of the Jews when He called Moses to lead them out of Egypt (Ex. 2:24–25, 6:1–9), so surely He would have pity on the prisoners and those ready to die. The cross of Jesus Christ is for us today the only evidence we need that God loves us (Rom. 5:8).