Psalm 35:13

13 But I, ¹when they were sick—I ²wore sackcloth; I ³afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed ⁴with head bowed^[a] on my chest.

Psalm 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.

Psalm 35:13 In-Context

11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.

12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.

13 But I, when they were sick—I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;

Cross References

• 1. 35:13 [Job 30:25]
• 2. 35:13 Ps. 69:11; [1 Kgs. 20:31]
• 3. 35:13 Ps. 69:10; Num. 29:7
• 4. 35:13 [Matt. 10:13]; Luke 10:6

Footnotes

• [a] 35:13 Or 'my prayer shall turn back'