John Calvin Commentary 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 dark places, as those that have been long dead." — Psalms 143:3 (ASV)

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. Having acknowledged that he only suffered the just punishment of his sins, David now comes to speak of his enemies; for speaking of them first would have been a preposterous order.

Their cruelty was shown in their not resting satisfied except with the destruction of one who was a saint of God; he declares that he must perish even now unless God helps him quickly.

The comparison is not merely to a dead man, but to a putrid corpse; for by the dead of an age are meant those who have been long removed from the world.

Such language intimates that he not only trusted in God as the one who could heal him of a deadly disease, but also considered that even though his life should be buried, as it were, and long out of mind, God could raise it again, and restore his very ashes.