Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 41:4

"I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." — Psalms 41:4 (ASV)

I said. —After the general statement, the poet applies it to his own case, which showed such sadly different conduct on the part of friends from whom more than sympathy might have been expected. The pronoun is emphatic: In my case, I said, etc.

But it is a singular mark of the psalmist’s sincerity and genuineness that he first looks into his own heart for its evil before exposing that of his friends.