Psalms 109:21

"But deal thou with me, O Jehovah the Lord, for thy name's sake:

Because thy lovingkindness is good, believe me;

For I am poor and needy,

And my heart is wounded within me.

I am gone like the shadow when it declineth:

I am tossed up and down as the locust.

My knees are weak through fasting;

And my flesh faileth of fatness.

I am become also a reproach unto them:

When they see me, they shake their head."

"My heart is wounded within me" (Psalms 109:22). Two things, among many others, might have broken David's heart, namely: (1) the malignity of Saul for whom David had risked his life in the encounter with Goliath; and (2) the treachery of Ahithophel, David's trusted friend and advisor, who betrayed him in favor of Absalom.

"Tossed up and down as the locust" (Psalms 109:23). Dummelow suggested that this could be rendered, "I am shaken off like a locust."[16] A reproach unto them (Psalms 109:25). The "them" here would have included David's acquaintances and perhaps even his relatives.