Question

In his introduction, Mesilat Yesharim writes that besides analytical study of Jewish law, one must also study matters of character traits and fear of Heaven, since they too are a form of wisdom, and these matters are well known. He adds that because of the lack of study of matters of divine service, it turns out that this area is lacking even among scholars, because they do not devote time to learning it.
On the other hand, in that same introduction he writes that whoever reads his book will see that there is nothing novel in it, and that the benefit of the book lies rather in reviewing it.
What is difficult for me about his words is that if matters of fear of Heaven really require analysis, then there would have to be novel ideas in the book that are not known to most scholars, since they do not involve themselves in matters of fear of Heaven.
I thought that perhaps he is being modest, and that there really are positions and novel ideas in his book, but my impression is that he is sincere, and in my humble opinion there is not much that is new in Mesilat Yesharim.