Psalms 35:13

13 Yet when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, and my prayer was genuine.^[a]

Psalms 35:13 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 35:13

But as for me, when they were sick
Or under any disorder or distress of body or mind, when any misfortune or infirmity attended them; meaning Saul and his courtiers, before David was persecuted by them;

my clothing [was] sackcloth;
that is, he was grieved, and mourned for them, it being usual to put on sackcloth in time of mourning; see ( Genesis 37:34 ) ;

I humbled my soul with fasting;
on the account of them, giving up himself to prayer for them, as follows:

and my prayer returned into mine own bosom;
that is, he prayed privately and heartily for them, as for himself; he was constant in it, his heart was in it, and he took delight in it, and he was heard and answered; unless the sense should be, that his prayer was slighted by them, and so returned back to himself, as a present despised is returned; but however it was not without its effect, the good for which he prayed for them was returned by the Lord unto him.

Psalms 35:13 In-Context

11 Malicious witnesses come forward; they question me about things I do not know.

12 They repay me evil for good, making me desolate.

13 Yet when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, and my prayer was genuine.

14 I went about [grieving] as if for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning a mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; they gathered against me. Assailants I did not know tore at me and did not stop.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit prayer returned to my chest