John Calvin Commentary Psalms 73:4

"For there are no pangs in their death; But their strength is firm." — Psalms 73:4 (ASV)

For there are no bands to their death. The Psalmist describes the comforts and advantages of the ungodly, which are, as it were, so many temptations to shake the faith of God's people. He begins with the good health they enjoy, telling us that they are robust and vigorous, and do not have to draw their breath with difficulty through continual sicknesses, as will often be the case with true believers.

Some explain bands to death, as meaning delays, viewing the words as implying that the wicked die suddenly and in a moment, not having to struggle with the pangs of dissolution. In the book of Job it is reckoned among the earthly felicities of the ungodly that, after having enjoyed their luxurious pleasures to the full, they in a moment go down to the grave, (Job 21:13). And it is related of Julius Caesar that, the day before he was put to death, he remarked that to die suddenly and unexpectedly seemed to him to be a happy death.

Thus, then, according to the opinion of these expositors, David complains that the wicked go to death by a smooth and easy path, without much trouble and anxiety. But I am rather inclined to agree with those who read these two clauses jointly in this way: Their strength is vigorous, and, in respect to them, there are no bands to death; because they are not dragged to death like prisoners.

As diseases lay prostrate our strength, they are so many messengers of death, warning us of the frailty and short duration of our life. They are therefore with propriety compared to bands, with which God binds us to his yoke, lest our strength and rigor should incite us to licentiousness and rebellion.