Psalms 143:3
For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
The enemy's persecution strikes the inner life down to the ground and forces the sufferer to live in darkness like those dead a long time, a state of deep distress and deathlike gloom. The life thus smitten is as a once-living tree that has fallen and can only struggle feebly to stand upright while decay sets in. Those long dead dwell in darkness, so the place of the dead is a dark place where the dead remain held under the power of death. That darkness holds the dead regardless of moral character, which shows they are not in heaven enjoying God's presence nor in hell fire.