Psalm 88. Ugh. Depression, anxiety, every form of emotional suffering we could think of. It's for real, and it doesn't mean you're faithless or weak. Indeed, "God is near to the brokenhearted," and maybe your broken heart is exactly the heart that God is looking for.

The colors of our sorrow: "WE have suffered from depression or sadness or whatever you call this." "WE have hurt ourselves physically for reasons we don't understand." "WE have taken prescription meds for emotional diagnoses." "WE have gotten help from therapists or counselors." "WE have contemplated suicide, or love someone who has died by suicide." Etc., etc. Every color, a shade of our grief. Michala said, "Look, it's all our shit. And it's so beautiful."

Youngster Czar Jess Schell, soon-to-be M.Div. Perkins (SMU), tackled the reality of loneliness and isolation, when your friends and neighbors and (maybe even) God have left you in the dust, or, as Jess says, "naked on the bathroom floor." Read Psalm 38, please. And have Psalm 23 on hand for the counter-testimony.

From the sketchbook of Paul Soupiest.

Psalm 102 evokes the pain and terror of dying. Can God really understand the SUCK of death? What if it seems like God doesn't?

Please take a look at Psalm 58 before you get started. And to cleanse the palate (and the spirit), read Psalm 103 afterward to hear the counter-testimony to this particularly ugly Psalm.

Classic 90s Benetton ad. This is important.