When we first read this verse, there seems to be no connection between the first part and the last part, but I believe that there is. "Where there is no vision the people perish." But there is power in the Word of God to enlighten the soul and to save it. To keep the law is to walk according to that Word.
As we look around us we can see men and women perishing for lack of vision. There are visions which are from God and there are others which are false visions. Often men are spoken of as being "men of vision." but they have vision only for things of this world and are blind to the things of God and to eternity.
“He that keepeth the law" is wise because it gives the revealed and perfect will of God. In Psa. 119:3434Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. (Psalm 119:34) we read. "Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law: yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." And in verse 130 it says: "The entrance of Thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple." Only as the Word of God enters into the soul can it have light and understanding and receive true vision.
No Vision
The Word of God gives us examples of those who had vision and others who did not. Let us read 1 Sam. 25:2-122And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. 5And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. 9And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. 11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? 12So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. (1 Samuel 25:2‑12). Nabal was a man who had received much in the way of consideration and favor from David. Nabal means fool and like a fool he had no vision to see that David was God's appointed king.
There are so many today who have mercies showered upon them, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, but are unwilling to acknowledge His goodness. He desires to bring you into blessing. If you go on denying the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ upon you, how sad it will be, for you also will perish for lack of vision. Nabal paid the penalty for his lack of vision; he perished because he failed to recognize David's claims.
On the other hand, Abigail went to David. She had vision to see that in the one who was driven from place to place was the Lord's anointed king and that in due time he would reign. Abigail was afterward brought into a place of blessing and later to share David's glory because she saw in him the king of God's choice.
Today, vision is needed to discern in the despised and rejected Lord Jesus Christ, God's appointed Savior and King, to whom every knee must bow.
In the New Testament we read of another who was rich in this world's goods but lacked vision in Luke 18:18-24:
A certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery. Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
This tells us of a rich man who had no vision. "The rich man's wealth is his strong tower," and that is what this young man thought. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ, but he had no vision to see in Him who was going about their streets, the One who would fulfill all God's counsels. If he had had vision he would have known Him as the One who was the Object of all God's purposes: he would have seen in Him God's beloved Son.
Vision of Faith
Hebrews 11 is a chapter that brings before us a great cloud of witnesses to the blessedness of having a vision, the vision of faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." All in Heb. 11 had vision, for it is faith that enables us to see and to know that which is hidden from our natural eyes.
It was faith that gave Abraham the seed. Abraham had a vision of the Lord of glory, and also had a vision of the inheritance that was to be his. God gave him to know that he had a heavenly place. The Lord Jesus said of Abraham, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and He saw it, and was glad." John 8:5656Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. (John 8:56).
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.
What a wonderful thing faith is! Moses saw the emptiness of all the glory of Egypt. He saw the great reward of serving the invisible God and he was ready to forsake all for what God had for him.
What a Savior God has provided for us. He has told us that He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him, and He is coming soon to receive us to Himself.
Vision of Glory
On the Damascus road, Saul of Tarsus, the proud, aggressive and powerful Pharisee received his vision of the glory of Christ. He knew that Jesus of Nazareth, whose name he hated and whose followers he wished to destroy, was truly the Lord, God's appointed Savior. That vision of glory shining into his heart turned the persecutor, Saul, into the humble bond slave of Jesus Christ.
We read in the Old Testament, in Hos. 4:6,6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." It was the lack of knowledge that destroyed Nabal. He did not know God's purposes for David's glory as God's appointed king of Israel, but looked upon him merely as some sort of a bandit leader, though his servants could have told him how much he owed to the care of David and his band.
Vision That Saves
The Word of God had been preached to the Thessalonians and had brought them to God.
We see what kind of a church they were: a church with a vision that saved them. They knew Christ as their Deliverer from the wrath to come. We also by faith know Him as our Deliverer and our Savior.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. 1 Thess. 2:1313For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
It is the Word of God which had come into their lives. God is light and also God is love. In Acts 18 we see how Paul had gone to the Thessalonians and preached Christ to them. That word which they had heard they received as it was in truth, the Word of God.
May you have your eyes opened to see a vision of Christ on the cross as your Savior and now on high in the glory, awaiting the day that God has appointed when He shall come back again, first to receive His redeemed people out of this world and then to be manifested in His glory as the Lord of lords.
H.F. Collier