Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou still doubting the mercy of God? Remember thy Creator. Who hath created thee without any concurrence of thine own will? Who was He that formed thy body in secret, when thy substance was curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth (Ps. cxxxix. 15)? Will not He who cared for thee before thou hadst any being care for thee now, after He hath formed thee in His own image? I am a creature of God; to my Creator then do I betake myself. What if my nature is corrupted by the devil; and pierced and wounded by my sins, as by murderous robbers (Luke x. 30), yet my Creator still lives. He who could create me at first can now restore me. He who created me without sin, can now remove from me all the sin which has entered into me and has permeated my whole being, either through the temptation of the devil, through Adam’s fault, or through my own actual transgression. (Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations – VIII: The Certainty of Our Salvation, Repristination Press, p. 45-46)

Consequently, in order that we may then give a definite form and good directions from God’s Word as to how and in what manner one may and should train oneself in godliness, the treatise of these five books now springs forth. Prior liber erit νουθετητικός, continens pietatis ὀρμητήρια [Vol. I will be admonitory, containing incentive for godliness]. Posteriores erunt διδακαλικός, exponentes pietatis ἐργαστήρια [The latter will be didactic, and will do the work of explaining godliness]. Prior demonstrabit τὸ ὅτι καὶ τὸ διότι, quod & quare pietatis sit studendum (Vol. I will show the why and the wherefore one must pursue godliness); posteriores exponent τὸ πῶς qua ratione pietatis exercitationi incumbendum (the rest of the volumes will explain the whole reason why the exercise of godliness is incumbent upon us).
Both are required for the true practice of godliness. For on account of the corruption of our nature, we are altogether reluctant and lazy regarding godliness; and our hearts flatter themselves with the belief that they are capable of evoking the highest motives which would awaken and encourage us to godliness, as well. Since we especially also, through this very same corruption of our nature, have our spiritual understanding blindly deluded in such way that we do not know how and in what manner we are to serve God, and are unable to train ourselves in godliness, from the Word of God one has to simultaneously defend against the corruption, and search for counsel and help for this sickness of the soul. We want to initiate a beginning concerning the reasons why we should be motivated to godliness. Thus, we thereafter will be all the more willing and eager to be motivated towards godliness if we consider how and in what manner we should and can train ourselves in godliness. GOD wants to grant us His Spirit’s grace and power for the sake of Christ, so that it may redound to His glory and for the furtherance of the salvation of many. Amen. (Schola Pietatus-Volume 1 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p. 28-29)