A common misinterpretation of this verse is to view it as a prescription for universal niceness or turning the other cheek in all conflicts, ignoring the psalm's context of David's righteous lament against wicked persecutors who repaid his loyalty with enmity; others might see it as hypocritical flattery, missing that David genuinely behaved this way out of heartfelt empathy, not manipulation, while the passage actually contrasts his upright conduct with their treachery to justify divine justice rather than promote passive endurance of evil.
Psalms 35:14
King James Version (1769)
14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
In Psalm 35:14, David illustrates his profound compassion toward those who later became his adversaries, treating them with the tenderness reserved for a close friend or brother in times of joy, and mourning deeply as if grieving the loss of his own mother, underscoring his integrity and genuine kindness despite their eventual betrayal, which heightens the injustice of their hostility and bolsters his plea for God's vindication.