Psalm 35:13

13 But as for me, ¹when they were sick, my ²clothing was sackcloth; I ³humbled my soul with fasting, And my ⁴prayer kept returning to my bosom.

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, To the bereavement of my soul.

13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.

14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me, They slandered me without ceasing.

Cross References

• 1. Job 30:25
• 2. Psalms 69:11
• 3. Psalms 69:10
• 4. Matthew 10:13; Luke 10:6