518. What Is Meant by "Where There Is No Vision the People Perish"?

"Vision" (Prov. 29:18) means communion with God and the revelation of his will. When communities or nations get out of touch with God and cease to know his will, they begin to perish. The Hebrew verb means to become "dissipated" and "unbridled" and so perish --in a word, to lose sight of moral and spiritual ideals, as a nation or community. Individual Christians and the organized church should be constantly seeking a clearer sight of God, closer communion with him, and a more perfect understanding both of his revealed will in the Scriptures and his providential will in present-day concerns.