Introduction to the Book of Psalms

At the age of twenty-two Melanchthon wrote a preface to Luther's commentary on the Psalms (1519). He dwelt on the help and consolation which the Psalms bring to the troubled conscience.

'For what doth it profit thee to know that the world was created by God, as Genesis tells us, if thou dost not adore the mercy and wisdom of the Creator? Again, how would it help thee to know that God is wise and merciful if thou couldst not take to thyself the thought that He is merciful for thee, just for thee, wise for thee? And that is what it means to have truly known God, but Philosophy has not attained that ultimate mode of Divine knowledge; it belongs to Christians alone. The spirit of the Psalms truly distils that sweetness into pious minds, and this is that celestial harmony which is attuned by the Spirit of God.'

—Corpus Reformatorum, vol. I. p. 73.