All I Need Is Everything

I believe this song is about salvation.

“Slow down. Hold still. It's not as if it's a matter of will. Someone's circling. Someone's moving a little lower than the angels. And it's got nothing to do with me. The wind blows through the trees, but if I look for it, it won't come. I tense up. My mind goes numb. There's nothing harder than learning how to receive.”

In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as being “a little lower than the angels”. Sometimes, we go overboard in our search for the truth that we don’t take the time to stand still and listen… God plants the truth inside each of our hearts, and he asks that we “be still” in order to know that he is Lord. “There’s nothing harder than learning how to receive” depicts how difficult it is for us as humans to comprehend that all God wants us to do is receive the gift of grace through his son. We think we have to do something to earn it, so we don’t want to take it because we just can’t accept that it would be that “simple”.

Calm down. Be still. We've got plenty of time to kill. No hand writing on the wall: just the voice that's in us all. And you're whispering to me, time to get up off my hands and knees, 'cause if I beg for it, it won't come. I find nothing but table crumbs. My hands are empty. God I've been naive.

I think this verse is showing us that we are no longer in the days of Moses where God appears in a burning bush or carves the ten commandments into stone. He is the voice that lives inside us that comes in a whisper when we are quiet enough to listen. He is saying that you don’t need to be on your hands and knees begging for his grace. He doesn’t want us to eat the crumbs from the table when he has planned the entire feast for us!

All I need is everything. Inside, outside, feel new skin. All I need is everything. Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

I think the line “inside, outside, feel new skin” is parallel to how Paul tells us when we accept grace, we are a new creation. We put off everything old and become a new creation to our Lord.

Slow down. Hold still. It's not as if it's a matter of will. Someone's circling. Someone's moving a little lower than the angels. This voice calling me to you: it's just barely coming through. Still, I clearly hear my name. I've been fingering the flame like tomorrow's martyr. It gets harder to believe.

This part shows how God calls each of us. She can barely hear it coming through, but nonetheless, she clearly hears her name being called.

All I need is everything. Inside, outside, feel new skin. All I need is everything. Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

So from now till kingdom come, taste the words on the tip of my tongue. 'Cause we can't run truth out of town, only force it underground. The roots grow deeper in ways we can't conceive.

This verse shows how from now until the end of times, the truth will be present. Mainstream society wants to force it underground because it isn’t “cool” to be a believer, but in many ways this only serves to fertilize our roots and help us to grow stronger in our own beliefs.

WHAT? First comment?! This is a mesmerizing tune, introduced to me by an e-friend from Finland ( I live in the US, thanks Sir Sisu). gripping voice she has.

The phrase "a little lower than the angels" is a quote from Hebrews 2:7.