Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 30:11

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;" — Psalms 30:11 (ASV)

Thou hast turned for me. —This verse gives the answer to the prayer. Mourning is literally beating the breast, and therefore dancing forms a proper parallelism; or else, according to one derivation of the word, machôl would suggest piping. (See margin, Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4; see Smith’s Bible Dictionary, under “Dance; ” and Bible Educator, vol. ii., p. 70; and compare the note to Song of Solomon 6:13.)