I would say what I think of the Psalms in a few words thus:—I believe, for my part, that there is no book under heaven, either of histories or examples, to be compared to the Book of Psalms. Wherefore, if it were right to ask of God, and, if such were our soul’s desire, that all the greatest excellences and most choice experiences of all the true saints should be gathered and collected from the whole church since it has existed, and should be most briefly and appropriately condensed into the focus of one book; if God, I say, should permit any most spiritual and most gifted man to form and concentrate such a book from all the excellences of the saints, and from the flower of the facts recorded in the whole scripture (which might be done);—such a book would be what the Book of Psalms is, or like unto it. For in the Book of Psalms we have not the life of one of the saints only, but we have the experience of Christ himself, the head of all the saints, for he is set forth in those Psalms: we have, moreover, the feelings and experiences of all the faithful, both under their sorrows and under their joys, both in their adversity and their prosperity: how they conducted themselves towards God, towards their friends, and towards their enemies: how they acted in various perils and afflictions, in the midst of temptations, and under the greatest necessities. And moreover, in addition to the great and blessed doctrines and instructions in godliness which it embraces, the Book of Psalms ought to be most dearly and highly prized by us on this account;—because it contains such clear prophecies concerning the death and resurrection of Christ, and holds forth such great and gracious promises concerning the kingdom of Christ, the spread of the Gospel, and the state of the whole church. So that you may truly call the Book of Psalms, a little Bible; for in it all things that are contained in the whole Bible are given to us in the most wonderfully brief and sweet manner, and condensed into a most beautiful manual. If God should himself hand down a book out of heaven and commend it to us with a divine voice, how highly would you prize and value it, how greedily would you seize it? Be assured then that the Holy Spirit himself has written and handed down to us this Book of Psalms, as a form of prayer, in the same way as a father would give a book to his children. He himself has drawn up this manual for his disciples; having collected together, as it were, the lives, groans, and experiences of many thousands, whose hearts he alone sees and knows. If, therefore, thou canst not read the whole Bible, behold! thou mayest, by reading the Book of Psalms only, have not only a summary of all godliness, but all godly excellences, and the most spiritual experiences.