A Treatise made by Athanasius the Great, concerning the use and virtue of the Psalms.  
ALl holy Scripture is certainly the teacher of all virtue, and of the true faith: but the book of the psalms doth express after a certain manner the very state and condition of the soul. For as he which intendeth to present himself to a King will first compound himself to set in good order both his gesture and his speech, lest als he might be reputed rude and ignorant: even so doth this godly book inform all such as be desirous to lead their life in virtue, and to know the life of our Saviour, which he led in his conversation, putting them in mind in the reading thereof, of all their affections and passions whereto the soul is inclined.  
Moreover, the psalms inform and teach every man with divers instructions, whereby he may not only spy the affections and state of his soul, and to win a good pattern and discipline how he may please God, but also with what form of words he may amend himself, and how to give God thanks, lest if he should speak otherwise then were convenient, he should fall into impiety by his unreverent estimation of God: for we must all make account to the judge, as well of our idle words as our ill deserts.  
IF therefore thou wouldst at any time describe a blessed man who he is, and what thing maketh him to be so, thou hast the 1.32.41.112.128. Psalms.  
2 If thou wouldst rebuke the jews for their spite they have to Christ, thou hast the 2. psalm.  
3 If thine own familiars pursue thee; and if any rise against thee, say the 3.143. Psalms.  
4 If thus in trouble thou hast called on God, and hast tarried upon his help, and wouldst give him thanks for that he hath heard thee with his help sing the 4.40.116. psalms.  
5 If thou seest that evil men lay snares for thee, and therefore desirest Gods ears to hear thy prayer, sing the 5. psalm.  
6 If thou feelest Gods dreadful threats, and seest thyself afraid of them, thou mayst say the 6.38.88. psalms.  
7 If any take counsel against thee, as Achitophel did against David, if thou be admonished thereof, sing the 7. psalm.  
8 If thou in beholding the grace of our Saviour spread on every 〈◊〉 ●ally for the restoring of mankind to ●●●●uation, would●st speak thereof in meditation to God, sing the 8. psalm.  
9 If so again thou wilt sing in giving thanks to God for the prosperous gathering of thy fruits, use the 8. psalm.  
10 If thou wouldst have thine adversaries kept, back & thy soul saved, trust not in thyself, but in the Son of God, singing the 9 psalm.  
11 If thou perceivest God to be wroth with his people, as though he regarded them nothing, thou hast to pacify him, to complain thereof, the 10, 60.74. psalms.  
12 If any man would put thee in fear, have thou thy hope in God, and sing the 11. psalm.  
13 If thou beholdest the pride of many men, and seest malice to abound, so that there is no godliness among men, repair then to God and say the 12. psalm.  
14 If thine adversary lie long in wait against thee, despair not as though God had forgotten thee, but call upon the Lord, and sing the 3.6.22. psalms.  
15 If thou hearest any to blaspheme God in his providence, be not partaker with them in wickedness, but make haste to God, and say the 14.55. psalms.  
16 If thou desirest to know who is a Citizen of heaven, sing the 15. psalm.  
17 If thou hast need of prayer for such as be against thee, and have closed thy soul on every side, sing the 16.17.86.141. psal.  
18 If thou hast escaped from thine enemies, and art delivered from them who pursued thee, sing thou the 18, 89. psalms.  
19 If thou dost wonder at the order of things created by God, considering the grace of the divine providence, sing the 19.24. psalms.  
20 If thou seest any man in adversity, comfort him, and pray for ●●im with the 20. psalm.  
●1 If thou perceivest thyself to be defended & fed by God, and to live prosperously, rejoice therein, and sing the 23. psalm.  
22 If thine enemies conspire against thee, lift up thy soul to God, and say the 23. psalm, and thou shalt espy them to labour but in vain against thee.  
23 If thine enemy's cluster against thee & go about with their bloody hands to destroy thee, go not thou about by man's help to revenge it, for all men's judgements are not trusty, but require God to be judge, for he alone is judge, & say the 26.35, 43. psal.  
24 If they pres●e more fiercely on thee, tho●gh they be in numbers like an armed host, fear them not which thus reject thee, 〈◊〉 ●●ugh thou wert not anointed and elect by God; but sing the 27. psalm.  
25 If they be yet so impudent that lay wait against thee, so that it is not lawful for thee to have any vocation by them, regard them not, but sing to God the 48. psalm.  
26 If thou wilt exhort and provoke Kings & princes to submit their power to God, & regard his honour sing the 29.82, psa.  
27 If thou renew and build thine house, both of thy soul, whereto thou receivest God to host, and of thy temporal habitation, sing the 30.48.127. psalms.  
28 If thou seest thyself had in hate for the truth's sake of thy friends and kinsfolk, leave not off thy purpose, nor fear them which be against thee, but think on them which follow, & sing the 31. psalm.  
29 If thou beholdest such as be baptized, & so delivered from the corruption of their birth, praise thou the bountiful grace of God, and sing the 32 psalm.  
30 If thou delightest to sing among many, call together righteous men of godly life, and sing the 33. psalm.  
31 If by chance thou fallest amongst thine enemies, and yet hast fortunately escaped them, if therefore thou wilt give thanks, call together meek men, and sing the 34. psalm.  
32 If thou seest wicked men contend among themselves to do mischief, think not that their Nature doth impel them by necessity to work sin against their will, as certain heretics suppose, but consider the 36. psalm, and thou shalt perceive that they be to themselves their own occasion of sinning.  
33 If thou seest how wicked men do much wickedness, and that yet simple folk praise such, when thou wilt admonish and man not to follow them, to be like unto them, because they shall be shortly rooted out and destroyed; speak to thyself and to other the 37. psalm.  
34 If thou hast decreed to take heed of thyself, & seest thine enemy approach nigh thee, as against one whom the adversary is more provoked to come with assault, and therefore wilt prepare thyself, sing the 39 psalm.  
35 If thou seest many poor men to beg, & wilt show pity to them, thou mayst both thyself receive them to mercy, and also exhort other to do the same, saying the 41. psalm.  
36 If thou hast a desire to Godward, & hearest thine enemies to upbraid thee, be not troubled, but consider what fruit of immortality riseth to thee for this desire, comfort thy Soul with hope to God, and so therein relieving and assuaging the heaviness of thy life say the 42. psalm.  
37 If thou wilt remember God's benefits which he did to the fathers both in their outgoing from Egypt and in the desert, & how good God was unto them, but they unthankful to him, thou hast the 44.78.89.102.106.114.117. psalms.  
38 If thou hast made thy refuge to God, & hast escaped such trouble 〈◊〉 was prepared against thee, if thou wilt give thanks and show out his kindness to thee, sing the 46. psalm.  
39 If thou wilt know how to give thanks to God when thou dost resort to him with sound understanding, sing the 47.48. psalms.  
40 If thou wilt exhort men to put their trust in the living God, who ministereth all things abundantly to good men's use, and blame the madness of the world, which serveth their God Mammon so inordinately, sing the 49. psalm.  
41 If thou wouldst call upon the blind world for their wrong confidence of their bruit sacrifices, & show them what sacrifice God most hath required of them, sing the 50. psalm.  
42 If thou hast sinned, and art convetted, and moved to do penance, desirous to have mercy, thou hast the words of confession in the 51. psalm.  
43 If thou hast suffered false accusation before the King, and seest the devil to triumph thereat, go aside & say the 52. psalm.  
44 If they which persecute thee with accusations would betray thee, as the pharisees did jesus, and as the Aliens did David, discomfort not thyself there with, bue sing in good hope to God the 54.57.69 psalms.  
45 If thine adversaries which trouble thee do upbraid thee, and that they which seem to be thy friends speak most against thee, whereupon if in thy meditation thou art somewhat grieved thereat, thou mayst call on God, saying the 55. psalm.  
46 If persecution come fierce on thee, & unawares chance to enter into the cave where thou hidest thyself, fear not: for in this straight thou hast expedient words both to comfort thee, & to put thee in remembrance of his old mercy, with the 57.142. psal.  
47 If thou wilt confound hypocrites which make glorious shows out wardly, speak their conversion with the 58. psalm.  
48 If thy pursuers command thy house to be watched; when thou art escaped, give thanks to God, & grave it in the tables of thine heart for a perpetual remembance, and say the 59 psalm.  
49 If thine enemies cruelly assault thee, and would catch thy life, offer thy subjection to God against them, and be of good comfort: for the more they rage, the more shall GOD subdue them: and say the 62. psalm.  
50 If thou fliest persecution, and gettest thee into the wilderness, fear thou not, as though thou wet there alone, but having God nigh unto thee, rise to him early in the morning, singing the 63. psalm.  
51 If thine enemies would put thee in fear, and never cease ●o lay traine●●o● thee, and pick all manner quarrels against thee, though they be very many, give no place to them: for the darts of babes shall be their destruction, if thou sayest the 61.68.70.71. psalms.  
52 If thou wilt laud God with a psalm or hymn, sing the 65 66. psalms.  
53 If thou hast need to confess God, sing the 67. Psalm.  
54 If thou wouldst sing to the Lord, thou hast what to say in the 96.98. psalms.  
55 If thou hast need to confess God with thanks, sing the 71.75.92.128, 111, 118.136.138.139. psalms.  
56 If thou seest wicked men prosper in peace, be not offended thereat, but say the 73. psalm.  
57 If thine enemies have beset the ways whither thou fliest and art thereby in great anguish, yet in this trouble despair not, but pray, and if thy prayer be heard, give God thanks, and say the 77. psalm.  
58 If they presever still, and defile the house of God, kill the elect, and cast their bodies to the fowls of the air, fear not their cruelty, but show pity to them which be in such agony, and say the 29. psalm.  
59 If thou wilt inform any man with the mystery of the resurrection, sing the 8. psalm.  
60 If thou wilt sing to the Lord, call together God's servants on the sestinall day, and sing the 81.95.34. psalms.  
61 If thine adversaries flock together on every side, & threnten to destroy the house of God, and make their conspiracies against the Religion, let not their number and power trouble thee for thou hast an anchor of the words of the 83, psalm.  
62 If thou cast est an eye to God's house and to his eternal tabernacles, and hast a desire thereto, as the Apostle had, say thou also the 84. psalm.  
63 If Gods wrath be ceased, and the captivity ended, thou hast cause how to give thanks to God with David, recounting his goodness to thee and others, with the 96.85.116 psalms.  
64 If thou wilt rebuke Paynims and heretics, for that they have not the knowledge of God in them, thou mayest have an understanding to sing to God the 86.115. psalms.  
65 If thou wilt see and know the dissent that the Catholic Church hath from schism, and wouldst convert them; or to discern the Church concerning the outward appearance and sons thereof, thou mayst say the 87. psalm.  
66 If thou wouldst know how Moses prayed to God, and in his meditation, recounting the brittle state of man's life, desired God to direct so his short life that he might follow wisdom, read the 90. psalm.  
67 If thou wouldst comfort thyself and others in ●●ne Religion, and reach them, that hope in God, will never suffer a fool ●o be confounded, but make ●hold and without fear of God's protection, sing the 9 psalm.  
68 If thou wilt sing on the Sabbath day, thou hast the 92 psal.  
69 If thou wilt sing on the Sunday in Meditation of God's word, desiring to be instructed therein, whereby thou mayst rest in God's holy will, and cease from all the works and doctrines of vain men, revolve that notable psalm, 119.  
70 If thou wilt sing in the second day of the Sabbath, thou hast the 95. psalm.  
71 If thou wouldst sing to the Lord, thou hast what to say in the 69.98. psalms.  
72 If thou wilt sing the fourth day of the Sabbath, sing the psalm 94. for then when the Lord was betrayed he began to take ve●gea●●ce on death, and to triumph of it: therefore when thou readest the Gospel, wherein thou hearest the jews to take counsel against the Lord, and that he standeth bodily against the devil, then sing the foresaid psalm.  
73 If thou wilt sing on Good-friday, thou hast a commendation of the psalm 63 for then was the house of God's church builded and groundly founded, though the enemies went about to hinder it: for which cause sing to God the songs of triumphant victory, with the said psalm, and with the 98. and 129. psalms.  
74 If the●e be any captivity wherein thy house is laid waist, and yet builded again, sing the 96. psalm.  
75 If the land be vexed with enemies, & after come to any rest by the power of God, if thou wilt sing therefore, sing the 97. psal.  
76 If thou considerest the providence of God in his governance so over all, and wilt instruct any with true saith and obedience when thou hast first persuaded them to confess themselves, sing the 100.147. psalms.  
77 If thou dost acknowledge in God his judicial power, & that in judgement he mixeth mercy, if thou wilt draw nigh unto him, thou hast the words of the Psalm 101. to the end.  
78 If for the imbicility of thy nature thou art weary with the continual miseries and griefs of this life, and wouldst comfort thyself, sing the 102. psalm.  
79 If thou wilt give thanks to God, as it is most convenient and due, for all his gifts; when thou wilt so do, thou hast how to rejoice thy soul thereunto with the 103. and 104. psalms.  
80 If thou wilt praise God, and also know how and for what cause and with what words thou mayst best do it, consider the 113.117, 133.146.147.148.149.150. psalms.  
81 If thou hast faith to such things as God speaketh, and believest that which in prayer thou utterest, say the psalm 116. to the end.  
82 If thou seelest thyself to rise upward in degrees of well working as though thou saidst with S. Paul, I forget those things which he behind me, and set mine eyes on things which be before me, thou hast the 130. psalm.  
83 If thou be'st holden in thraldom under straying & wandering thoughts, & feelest thyself drawn by them, whereof thou art sorry, then stay thyself from henceforth, and tarry where thou hast found thyself in fault, set thee down, and mourn thou also as the Hebrew people did, and say with them the 137. Psalm.  
84 If thou perceivest that temptations be sent to prove thee, thou oughtest after such temptations to give God the thanks, and sing the 139. psalm.  
85 If yet thou be in bondage by thine enemies, and wouldst feign be delivered, say the 140. psalm.  
86 If thou wouldst pray and make supplication, say the 141.142.143. psalms.  
87 If any tyrannous enemy rise up against the people, fear thou not, no more than David did Goliath, but believe like David, and sing the 144. psalm.  
88 If thou art elect out of low degree, specially before other, to some vocation to serve thy brethren, advance not thyself too high against them in thine own power, but give God the glory, who did choose thee, and sing thou the 119. psalm.  
89 If thou wilt sing of obedience, praising God with Alleluia, thou hast the 105.106.107.111.112.113.114.115.117.135.136.146.147.148.149.150. psalms.  
90 If thou wilt sing specially of our Saviour Christ, thou hast of him in every psalm, but most chief in the 25.45.100. psalms.  
91 Such psalms as show his lawful generation of his father, and hie corporal presence, be the 11.69. psalms.  
92 Such as do prophecy before of his most holy Cross and passion, telling how many deceitful assaults he sustained for us, and how much he suffered, be the 2.129. psalms.  
93 Such as express the malicious enemies of the jews, and the betraying of judas, are the 21.50.55.69.72, 109. psalms.  
94 Such as describe his agony in his passion, death and sepulture, be the 22.88. psalms.  
95 For his dominion & presence in the flesh, read the 116. ps.  
96 Such as show the glorious resurrection of his body, be the 24.97. psalms.  
97 Such as set out his ascension into heaven, are the 93.96.98 99▪ Psalms.  
98 And that he sitteth on the right hand of his Father, the 110. psalm maketh manifest.  
99 Such as show that he hath authority of his father to judge, expressing his judicial power, both in condemning the devil, & all wicked Nations, are the 50.72, 82. psalms.  
FINIS.