It ought, therefore, godly soul, to be a great consolation to thee when the Psalms truly suit and delight thee. There is a saying of Quinctilian left on record, who says, ‘He that is truly delighted with Cicero may be assured that he has made a good progress:’ which I may not unappropriately turn thus,—‘He that is really delighted with, and receives consolation from, the Psalms of David, may be assured that he has arrived at some knowledge and experience in divine things.’ For when thou findest thyself under the same feelings that David was; when the chords and strings of his harp are really re-echoed by the feelings and sensations of thy heart; thou mayest assure thyself that thou art in the congregation of the elect of God; seeing that thou art afflicted in the same manner as they were afflicted, and that thou prayest with the same faith, sensations, and affections as they prayed. Whereas, to a cold and frigid reader, destitute of faith, all these Psalms are insipid and unengaging. Again, the Psalms are those parts of the lives of the saints, which you may most safely copy and imitate. Other lives and histories, which do not set forth the words and expressions, but certain works of the saints, contain many things of the saints which we cannot imitate, such as certain signs and wonders, and demonstrations of divine power. And indeed some of the recorded works of those who are considered to have been saints, are such that you cannot imitate them without eminent peril; being such works as cause sects and heresies, and draw us away from the unity of the Spirit; of which we have abundant proof in monkery. But the Psalms call us away from all sects and divisions, to the unity of the Spirit. They teach us to maintain fear in prosperity, and not to cast away our hope in adversity; and thus to be of the same mind, to have the same desires, and to have the same feelings and sensations with all the saints. In a word, if you desire to see the Christian church painted forth, as it were, in a most beautiful picture, and in the most lively and descriptive colours, then take the Psalms into thy hands; this will be as an all-clear mirror, which will represent to thee the whole church in its true features; and if thou be one that fears God it will present to thee a true picture of thyself: so that, according to the maxim of the philosopher of old, γνωθι σεαυτον, thou wilt, by this book, come to a true knowledge of thyself, nay, and also of God and all creatures.