to Psalm 49. Now, Ronnie Trabant tells me
that last Wednesday night's message on Titus 3 has been requested
by some of you, and he plans to put the message tonight on
the other side of that tape. So Titus 3 will be on one side
of this tape, and this message And the title of it is Wisdom
and Understanding. Wisdom and Understanding. I pray
that it will be as great a blessing to you when I preach it tonight
as it was to me as I prepared it and as it was to Elder Bob
as he studied it and read it. He was looking forward to the
message after looking over this psalm. Wisdom and understanding. Now, the first word we meet with
is hear. H-E-A-R. Psalm 49, 1. Hear this, all you people. Give ear. You know, it's difficult
to gain the ears of men to hear the Lord speak. People will gather
around a television to hear the president speak or to hear some
writer speak or they'll go to auditorium to hear a man speak
and just hang on every word. But it's so difficult to get
people out yonder, not you now, but out yonder in the world interested
in hearing what God has to say. Hear this. Hear this. Give ear. Let me read you what our Lord
said about this thing. You know, seven times in the
four Gospels, it says, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
He repeats that seven times. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. He says over there in Matthew, this people's heart
is waxed gross. Their ears are dull of hearing.
Their eyes, they've closed. lest that any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They don't want
to hear. They don't want to see. They don't want to see. But he
says to his disciples, blessed are your eyes, you see, and blessed
are your ears, you hear. You have ears to hear. The hearing
ear and the seeing eyes of the Lord. That's right. But this I know, speaking to
all of my generation, He that will not hear our Lord speak
now in grace, and heed what he says, will one day hear him speak
in judgment. The Lord shall speak to them,
the second psalm says, in his wrath. God will speak someday. He speaks in grace now, but one
day he'll speak in judgment, and they'll hear him then. And
it'll be terrible words, depart from me, I never knew you. And
he says here in verse 1, hear this, all ye people, Christians,
not Christians alone, everybody, hear this, all ye people, all
ye inhabitants of the whole world, hear this now, both low and high,
rich and poor, everybody, everybody. You know, in our society, now
listen to me, This is true. In our society, the intellectuals
speak to the educated. The educated, their ears are
turned to the intellectuals. They're not going to hear you
unless you've got a certain number of degrees after your name. It's
not going to hear you. The vulgar entertain the sensual
and the foolish. You turn your television on and
And these different programs, especially in the daytime, they're
entertaining the foolish. They're vulgar, sensual, suggestive,
and they've got a big audience to listen to. And the poets and
the writers teach the literary groups. They all assembled in
their little groups and they listened to somebody talk about,
you know, poems and literature and these things. And they listened
to them. And the ranting evangelists and
the demonstrators, they rallied. Paul said the basersaw it. They can get the basersaw it
all stirred up, you know. They listened to them. The true
servant of God. has a message for all people,
all inhabitants, low and high, rich and poor, learned and ignorant,
white and black, male and female, it doesn't matter, all people,
all the inhabitants, all classes got an ear to hear the true word
of God in its simplicity. And the true servant of God will
be heard, Spurgeon said, by the king and the commoner. if he's one of God's sheep. I hear this. I hear this. All you people, give in. All
you inhabitants, low and high and rich and poor, my mouth,
verse 3, is going to speak some wisdom. My mouth shall speak
of wisdom. Now, the psalmist is not praising
his wisdom. Let men do that who will, but
he's not talking about his wisdom, and he's not talking about his
intellect or his knowledge or his attainments. That's not what
he's talking about. My mouth is going to speak wisdom
because I am inspired and lifted up above myself. If a man has the Spirit of God
and steps into this place, truly has the Spirit of God and the
Word of God, He is inspired and he rises above himself. It's not his word, it's God's
word. It's not his thoughts, it's God's
thoughts that you hear. It's not his truth and wisdom,
but it's the wisdom and truth of God. Paul described it in
1 Corinthians 1.23, he said, we preach Christ crucified. Christ
humiliated, harassed, tortured, nailed to a cross, bleeding and
dying. I preach Christ crucified. To
the Jews, a scandal. To the Greeks, foolishness. But
to them who are called Jews and Greeks, male and female, high
and low, rich and poor, it's the power and wisdom of God. Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God to the Jew and the Greek. Turn to 2 Corinthians. You'll
want to read this as I read it. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. No, 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. He says in 1 Corinthians 2, verse
4, my speech, my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit of power, that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. We speak wisdom, wisdom among
them that are mature, but it's not the wisdom of this world.
It's not the wisdom of the princes of this world that come to naught.
We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery which God ordained
before the world under our glory. Oh, Christ in him, Paul said
in Colossians chapter 2, in him are hid. What's that word hid
mean? In him are contained and kept
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is in Christ. You know, a good newspaper reporter,
I have read, answers four questions
if he writes a good article. This is what the editor looks
for. Who? What? Where and when? And if you all studied literature,
that's what said you've got to answer those four questions.
And that's what's answered right here in Christ crucified. Who
is he? He's the wisdom of God, the Son
of God. What did he do? He came to this
earth in human flesh and died on that cross, suffered for our
sins. Where is he now? He's exalted
at the right hand of God, our high priest ministering, not
in holy places made with hands, but in heaven itself, appearing
before God to obtain redemption for us. Why? that God may be
just and justify. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. Over here in Proverbs chapter
8, let's turn over and read this. We'll talk while we're dealing
with this. He said, My mouth is going to speak wisdom. Wisdom. Not my wisdom, his wisdom. Proverbs
8 verse 32. Now, hearken to me. Proverbs
8, verse 32, this is our Lord speaking. Hearken to me, O ye
children, for blessed are they that keep my ways, hear instruction,
be wise, refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, that watcheth daily at my gates, waiting at the post of
my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth
life, life, eternal life. and shall obtain favor of the
Lord. But he that won't hear, that
refuses to hear, will not hear, he sinneth against me, and wrongeth
his own soul. And all they that hate me must
love death, because he lieth. Ah, the psalmist says, My mouth
shall speak of wisdom. Wisdom. Here's where I got the
title of the message. My mouth shall speak of wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. Wisdom
and understanding. He speaks here, the meditation
of my heart shall be of understanding. A man speaks with understanding
when in his heart he has experienced what he preaches. You don't have
any doubt in this world that the Apostle Paul, whose writings
I just read, and he speaks about Christ, the power and wisdom
of God. In listening to him speak, you have no doubt that he has
experienced what he's preaching. That's what we read a while ago,
I believed and therefore I spoke. And a man speaks with understanding
when in his heart he has experienced what he preaches. Now, I'll give you an example
of a man speaking the truth that doesn't understand it. Look at
John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Here's a man
who spoke the truth, but didn't understand what he was saying.
And God used him to speak this message, but he didn't understand
it. Now, what's this? in John chapter
11, verse 49. And he's talking about Christ here,
verse 48. If we let this man alone, everybody's
going to believe on him. That's what this fellow said.
If we leave him alone now, this Jesus, all men will believe on
him, and the wrong ones will come and take away our place
and our nation. And one of them named Caiaphas, he was the high
priest. He was the high priest that year.
He said unto them, you know nothing at all, nor consider that it
is expedient for us that one man should die for the people,
that the whole nation perish not. And this he spake not of
himself. He didn't know what he was saying.
What he was saying was, let's kill this Jesus and we'll all
be spared. Because if we don't kill this
Jesus, he's going to stir up enough trouble that the Romans
are going to come and run us out of here. So let's just sacrifice
him that the whole nation perish not. That's why he died! That
the nation Israel perish not. True Israel. Read on. He didn't
understand what he said. But being the high priest that
year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, and
not for that nation only. but that also Jesus Christ should
gather together and one of the children of God scattered abroad.
Out of his mouth came wisdom, but he didn't understand it. But the psalmist says, I'm telling
you what I've experienced in my heart. My meditation, the
meditation of my heart is understanding. Now watch this, Balaam's ass
spoke the truth. God used him, but he didn't understand
a thing he said, nothing. He told the truth, he was an
instrument of God, but he doesn't understand it. Now watch this.
This is such a beautiful picture here in verse 3. My mouth shall
speak of wisdom, the wisdom of Christ, the wisdom of God, and
the meditation of my heart. The devotion of my heart, the
sincerity of my heart shall be of understanding. I understand
what I'm saying, and what I'm saying has had an effect on me
in my heart. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession made unto salvation. I want you to look with me at
Job 28. I've read this chapter several
times. in this pulpit, Job 28, the chapter
dealing with where wisdom is found, but the very last verse
is an illustration of what we're dealing with here. You find Job
28, 28, and let me quote the text one more time now in Psalm. My mouth shall speak with wisdom,
and my heart shall be of understanding. Now, let's look at verse Chapter
28 of Job. And unto man, he says, behold,
the fear of the Lord, that's wisdom. And to depart from evil,
to walk with Christ, that's understanding. You get what he's saying? The
fear of the Lord, that's wisdom. Find out who God is. That's wisdom. But to find out who God is in
your heart, and walk in his commandments and walk in his fellowship, that's
understanding. Man's got some understanding
now. I can speak wisdom like Balaam's axe and not have any
understanding. I can read it. Grace is logical,
but logic won't save me. Christ has to dwell in my heart.
And a writer writing on this verse here, the fear of the Lord,
now that's wisdom. That's where it starts. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You don't even start
having any wisdom until you fear the Lord. And let me show you
what he says here. The fear of the Lord is wisdom,
not a fear of wrath, not a fear of damnation, but fear of the
Lord is a reverence and a belief and a respect and an affection
for God. And this is consistent with faith,
believing God. It's the opposite of pride and
self-confidence. Fear of the Lord takes in the
whole worship of God, internal and external. The fear of the
Lord comes by the grace and gift of God. And no man is wise, and
no woman is wise, until they believe God. Because the fool
has said, no, God. That's wisdom. The very beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And it's not a fear of
wrath or a fear of hell. It's respect and faith and reverence,
worship of God Almighty. That's wisdom. Now, understanding. To depart from evil is understanding.
Now listen to this. This is what he says here. Understanding
is the result of wisdom. It's the result. Turn to Psalm
111. Understanding is the result of
wisdom. It's the fruit of wisdom. It's
the product of wisdom. A man that's truly wise in his
heart will have an understanding. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we may know him that is true. This is
the true God. This is eternal life. Look at
Psalm 111, verse 9. He sent redemption unto his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverent is his name.
And the fear of the Lord, that's the beginning of wisdom. and
a good understanding have all they that do his commandments,
his praise unto him." You see what that, what the psalmist
is talking about? A mouth speaks of wisdom, and
my heart, meditation, is understanding. And that understanding is the
fruit and the product, byproduct, and the results of that wisdom.
When wisdom reaches the heart, it's not just here, but it's
here. Now watch this next line here
in verse 4. I will incline mine ear to a
parable, and then I will open my dark sayings upon the heart.
I looked at that a while, and I believe I've got something.
I've got some some light on this. I will incline my ear to a parable. Our Lord Jesus Christ preached
the gospel, the truth of God, the weightier matters of the
law, the mysteries of God. He preached them in parables,
didn't he? Listen to me, don't turn to this.
Let me just turn and read it to you quickly. Listen to Christ,
our Lord speaking. All these things spake Jesus
unto the multitude in parables. And without a parable spake he
not to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
the prophet, whom we are reading right now. I will open my mouth
in parables. David wrote that in Psalm 78.
I will utter things that have been kept secret from the foundation
of the world. That's what David said. So he
says here in our text, I'm going to incline my ear to a parable. To a parable. I will listen to
the Lord as the Lord teaches me, that I might have understanding
and knowledge to teach you. He who would not, he who would,
somebody said, he who would have others hear him, he must first
hear himself. If we would have someone hear
us, we've got to have something to say. And to have something
to say, you're going to have to listen to Him who said it. So I'm going to incline my ear
to the Lord, to His parables, to His Word. He's going to bore
my ear. I'm going to be a willing bond
slave, and I'm going to listen to Him. I'm going to listen to
Him. And then I'll open the dark sayings. Then I will open the mysteries
of the parables. Then I will open the riddles
of the world in a lovely song." That's what David, he was a sweet
psalmist, a singer. And he listened to God. He listened
to the Lord speak to him in parables in his word. And then he opened
those dark sayings those mysterious truths, the mysteries of the
gospel in a lovely song. You see, David was no mystic,
delighting in deep and cloudy things, like the Apostle Paul
who said, I didn't come to you with intellectualism and oratory
and high-sounding words, but in simplicity. And that's what
David is saying here. I'm going to open The things
I've heard, the mysteries, the dark things, the deep things
of God, and I'm going to put it in a song. And he did. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Anybody can understand that,
can't you? He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restored
my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil. He's with me. The Lord is my light. The Lord
is my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the light of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? He
says, I'm going to listen, and then I'm going to put it in words
people can hear in a lovely song. And they'll sing it with me.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all ye lands. Come before the
Lord with singing. Enter this court with thanksgiving.
The Lord is the Lord of may, and not we ourselves. We're his
people. We're the sheep of his pasture. That's the song. Oh
boy, that's what he's doing. Paul said, I'm afraid it's Satan. It's going to deceive you like
he deceived Eve and take you away from the simplicity of Christ,
from the singleness of Christ, from the oneness of Christ. And
I believe that's exactly what David's saying here. He said,
I'm going to incline mine ear. God speaks in parables, illustrations,
types, shadows, pictures. That's Psalm 78 over there. David wrote that. Look over there,
Psalm 78, 2. that our Lord quoted that the scripture be fulfilled?
Turn to Psalm 78, verse 1. Give ear, O ye people, to my
law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open
my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of
old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told
us. And I will not hide them from their children. showing
to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, His strength,
His wonderful works that He hath done. He hath established a testimony
in Jacob, appointed a law in Israel. He commanded our fathers
that they should make known to their children that the generation
to come might know them, even the children which should be
born, who shall arise and declare them to their children." What
a friend we have in Jesus! All our sins and griefs to back. I'm going to tune my heart and
my ears to God, and then I'm going to put it in a song, a
simple song of Solomon, the relationship between Christ and his people.
All right, these next verses is the wisdom upon which he meditated
and the understanding God had given him. In these next verses
is the parable he's going to open and sing in joy and simplicity. Here it is. Watch it. Wherefore should I fear in days
of evil? The believer has nothing to fear.
That's what I quoted from Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and
my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
my light, the light of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? The
believer has nothing and no one to fear even in the worst of
times. He calls them here the days of
evil. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil? What are these days of evil?
Well, they're days of error and apostasy and false religion. And we're smack dab in the middle
of them. Days of error, heresy, and false
religion. There's so little truth preached
in the churches today that you could call this almost total
apostasy. That's right. And if it were
possible, it'd deceive the elect. But you don't have to be afraid
if you want to hear the letter. You don't fear in the days of
evil. Not even when apostasy is sweeping down and carrying
with it most of your friends and family. But it won't touch
you. It won't come near you. And then
there are days of affliction and heavy trials and serious
losses. But it's not going to take you
away from Him. And then the days of old age
and disease and loneliness. These bodies start breaking down
and suffering and hurting and things go wrong. The days of
evil. But they won't be distressing
to you. You're not afraid. And then the day of death is
coming. Day of death. But that's not going to affect
you, just take you home. So wherefore should I fear in
the days of evil? I will fear no evil. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Boy, I looked at this next one.
Last night I was sitting, Doris and I was talking last night,
and I was reading this psalm. And I came upon this, when the
iniquity of my heels She accomplished me about it. She said, what's
that mean? I said, well, I'm going to have
to work on that. I'm going to have to work on
that. Well, I did, and I got some light
on it. I won't fear. Now watch this.
The first thing he said, I won't fear in the days of evil. When
days, the days of apostasy and error, the days of affliction
and trial, the days of suffering and loneliness, and the days
of death. But this says, when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about, I won't fear. And the word heels denotes our
flesh. You remember when our Lord, our
God spoke to the woman, Eve, after they fell. He said, see
the woman, he'll bruise the serpent's head, but the serpent will bruise
his heel. What did the serpent bruise?
Not Christ's soul. God Almighty put his soul to
death and made his soul an offering for sin. But his body, his body,
his flesh, tormented, broken, broken on that cross, nailed
to that cross, bleeding and dying, bruised his heel. That's his
heel. And the heel denotes our steps.
The heel denotes our sins of life and conversation. It's called the iniquity of my
steps. Wherefore should I fear when
the days of evil? No, God's with me. But when the
iniquity of my flesh compasses me, and the iniquity of my steps
in walking through this world compasses me, always around me
and with me and troubling me. It's not my relationship with
God that troubles me, it's flesh. Isn't that right? And I thought about this. How
many times do we use that word heals? We use that word heals to denote
the flesh. Our steps to this world. He's
down at the heels. What's wrong with him? He's poor
and needy. His shoes and the heels are run
down. That used to be a mark of a man who didn't have much. His shoes were all run down.
He's down at the heels. We're that way too. Poor and
needy, David said. Oh, here's another one. They follow right on my heels. Doris told me when I was talking
about that to her, she said, I remember when Becky was a little
girl, we'd go somewhere, she'd walk so close to me she'd step
on my heels. But she'd just stay right up
against me all the time, stepping on my heels. Right on my heels.
That's where your flesh is. It's always stepping on your
heels. You're always with you. I mean close. Here's another
one. They're at my heels like a pack
of wolves. And they are to our flesh. Here's another one. He's
kicking up his heels. What's that mean? He's pretty
active. That old man gets pretty active sometimes, doesn't he?
Kicking up his heels. Here's another one. Now don't
take to your heels. Don't follow him. Don't leave
me. Take to your heels and depart.
Don't follow that old man. Just crucify him and stay where
you are. Here's another one. Don't turn on your heels. That's
an about face. Turn on your heels and the brick
change. Don't change. And here's the last one. I found
this one. He says, what's he doing? He's
cooling his heels. What's that mean? That means
he's waiting on the Lord. That's what I think it means.
Cooling his heels. Just staying put. Cooling his heels. So this right
here, I have no doubt, I've got a hold of this thing here. Wherefore
should I fear in days of evil? I won't. He's with me. But when
the iniquity of my heels, of my steps, of my flesh, of my
conversation, of my old man shall compass me about, I won't fear either. That's what
we read in Isaiah 41 verse 10. Listen, I'll read it to you.
Fear thou not. I'm with you. Don't be dismayed,
I'm your God. I'll strengthen you, I'll help
you, I'll uphold you with my right hand, the right hand of
my righteousness. All right, let's look at these
verses for a few moments. Verse 6 through 9, Bob dealt
with this in his message Sunday morning. You remember Sunday
morning when he preached at Jeremiah 9. It says, Thus saith the Lord,
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, not the mighty man
glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches,
but let him that glory glory in this, that he understandeth
and knows me, saith the Lord. Now listen to this. They that
trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of
their riches, and men and women of this world do, Men and women
with all the worldly wisdom and power and strength and riches.
But verse 7 says none of them can by any means, by these things,
redeem himself or his brother. All their works and deeds and
riches and knowledge and all these things won't redeem them,
nor their brother. They can't help anybody else
with spiritual things. Nor give God a ransom for him.
Give God a ransom? Either for yourself or your brother?
What would it be? Turn your Bibles just one page
to Psalm 50 verse 9. What would it be if we were going
to give God a ransom? What would it be? Psalm 50 verse
9. Listen to this. I'll take no
bullock out of your house, nor he goats of your foe. Every beast
of the forest is mine. I don't need anything you've
got. The cattle upon a thousand hills, they're mine. I know all
the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field,
they're mine. If I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The world's
mine, and the poorest out of that, I don't need anything anybody's
got. Give God a ransom, what would
it be? All right, let's read that next
verse. The redemption of their soul is precious. You look that
word up, precious. Now, words mean different things
in Hebrew and Greek than how we customarily use them. But
this precious here is the word heavy. That's the first word
you look that up over in the Hebrew concordance and precious
here. The redemption of their soul
is a heavy price. It's priceless. It's beyond all
their possessions put together. How can they redeem their brother?
The price is too heavy. That's too heavy for me. And
that's what he's talking about here. The only price of redemption
is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That'll meet
the need. That'll meet the need. The only
price of redemption. All right. Now, like Bob read
that a while ago. Leave the parenthesis out. Just
lift that verse 8 out. See it in parenthesis. Verse
7. Now, none of them can by any
means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him,
that he should live forever and not see corruption. And that's
what we desire, isn't it? To live forever and not see corruption?
When this corruption shall put on incorruption, mortal immortality? We can't do it. It's too heavy,
too great a price. No price can redeem a soul except
the blood of Christ. Man's works and deeds and wealth
and tears and promises forever come short It ceaseth forever. Read verse 8 again. The redemption
of their soul is priceless, heavy. It ceaseth forever. It never
has been sufficient. It never has been able to pay.
And it will be forever so, unable to redeem. And it cannot give
eternal life, and it cannot give a hope of incorruption. But,
one of the authors said this, The true redemption price paid
by our Lord is his precious blood, and its ceaseth forever too. What does that mean? That means
it's perfect, the debt's all paid, nothing more required,
all demands are met, requirements cease. Those redeemed live forever
and they'll never die. All right, let's close with this.
Just the next two or three verses. Verse 10. For he seeth that wise
men die, that is, the wise men of the world, like the fool,
the brutish person, perish, leave their wealth to others. My friends,
wise men, rich men, powerful men, they wither and decay and
die, just like fools and tramps. That's what he's saying. Whatever
people have and however high they are in wealth and wisdom
and popularity and power, someday they're going to die just like
the tramp and the hobo down there they found dead on the railroad
track. I think of President Reagan, 91 years old. He used to know
all the leaders of the world. He doesn't even know his wife
now. Isn't that true? He's no different from a tramp.
He doesn't know anything. He's got no wisdom, no understanding,
nothing. Just a shell. And he's going to die. And he
dies just like the brutish man dies, and the tramp dies, and
then he leaves everything he's got to others. He leaves it all. They said of a man one time,
If a man dies very wealthy, he says, what did he leave? He said,
everything. Take nothing with him, but his
sins, their works do follow after them.
Trail them to the judgment. Now verse 11, that's not what
they think. Because they built, I'll go back
to the president, they built a library, a presidential library. They got all these letters and
notes and all these things. And here's what they think, listen.
Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever,
just like it is. Go right on. Their name, accomplishments,
deeds, alms, all going to keep on going and stand for them in
eternity. That's what they think. They
think because they stand here with the names on it, they're
going to stand for it. But listen to what this Word
says. Their thought is that their houses shall continue forever
and they're dwelling places to all generations. That's why they
call the lands after their old names and name aircraft carriers
farm and all these other things. Nevertheless, man being an honor,
no matter how high the honor is, he abides not. He's like
the dog that dies. That's strong, isn't it? You're
riding down the highway and there lays a dog. If a man doesn't
know Christ, there lays a dog. And the last verse, verse 20,
says, man that's in honor and understands not, he's like a beast that perishes.
That's strong, isn't it? But we're going to live forever.
That's what that verse you read a while ago. That's wisdom. All right, let's sing Our Firm
Foundation, you saints of the Lord, 268. This is just exactly
the song to close this with, 268, Our Firm Foundation.