Spiritual Strategy
- Boy - 1980
- Ten Most Spiritual Songs
- October - 1981
- A Celebration - 1982
- War - 1983
- The Unforgettable Fire - 1984
- The Joshua Tree - 1984
- Rattle and Hum - 1988
- Achtung Baby - 1991
- Zooropa - 1993
- Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1
- Pop - 1997
- The Best of 1980-1990 - 1998
- All That You Can't Leave Behind - 2000
- The Best of 1990-2000 - 2002
- How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 2004
- Boy - 1980
I Will Follow
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow.
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow.
I will follow.
The Message illustrates I Will Follow in the context of inseparable relationships. What makes a relationship inseparable? It is combination of factors such as trust, loyalty, affection, safety, availability and responsiveness. . Read and meditate in these pictures of affection:
But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!” Ruth 1:16,17.
In a moment of crisis, darkness or vulnerability, the nature of a relationship connection (attachment) is manifested
An American Prayer
My oh my, let's not get tired.
Let's not kick at the darkness.
Let's make the light brighter.
These are the hands
What are we going to build with them?
This is a church you can't see.
Give me your tired and poor and huddled masses.
You know they're yearning to breathe free.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island remain among the powerful symbols of American roots and greatness. In this prayer the reader is invited to search his/her own heart to identify potential American pirates determined to kidnap the riches and treasures of our personal Mayflower.
What follows might become a source of inspiration and prevention against the kidnapping of our true desires and precious aspirations:
- Don’t abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt.
- Don’t mistreat widows or orphans. If you do and they cry out to me, you can be sure I’ll take them most seriously; I’ll show my anger and come raging among you with the sword, and your wives will end up widows and your children orphans. Exodus 22:21-24
- When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.
- Leviticus 19:33. And no double standards: the same rule goes for foreigners and natives. I am God, your God. (24:22).
- Ten Most Spiritual Songs
- Top 10 Spiritual U2 Songs
@U2, October 29, 2008
Maddy Fry
[Ed. note: This is the fourth in a "U2 Lists" series, where @U2 staffers pick a topic and share their personal rankings on something U2-related.]
Maybe I'm just biased. But U2 can probably be quite safely described as one of the few mainstream bands that have managed to evoke at times intense spiritual sentiments in their songs whilst never coming across as preachy or zealous. Although much of the imagery in their work has been drawn from Jewish and Christian texts, they have rarely appealed to a sectarian mindset, evoking a view of the divine that has struck a chord with people of many different faiths and religious traditions. As someone whose spiritual and religious state owes its very existence to U2, this is a subject that I have long felt a tight connection to. My intention is not to evangelise or proselytise; below are merely a few of the U2 songs that I feel have resonated with me the most in this way.
10) "Tomorrow"
Appearing on what is probably U2's most overtly religious album, October, 'Tomorrow' is arguably the standout track: painful, disturbing, and brutally honest in its description of the singer's ascent from the agony arising in the wake of his mother's death to the healing and elation he receives from a sudden spiritual awakening. The song's slow beginning reflects Bono's grief and confusion as he veers between trying to form a dialogue with his mother to openly pleading for her return: "Going out/going outside mother/I'm going out there/Won't you be back tomorrow?/won't you be back tomorrow?/ will you be back tomorrow?" Yet as it speeds up and builds to a crescendo, it becomes unclear whether Bono's cry of "I want you/I want you" is addressed to his mother or to some higher being, as he startlingly admonishes the listener to "Open up, open up, to the love of God/to the love of he who made the blind to see/he's coming back, he's coming back/Oh believe."
This tight connection between the loss of his mother and his move towards faith is a theme Bono revisits time and again, particularly on the Pop album via the song "Mofo," where he directly asks her "Am I still your son?" in between his attempts to locate "the baby Jesus under the trash." As on "Tomorrow," no answer comes back from the silence. However, in his mother's absence, on both songs the singer's God maintains a constant, if at times aloof, watch.
9) "Drowning Man"
Despite containing no references whatsoever to "drowning," this low-key track on the War album arguably has a soporific effect on the listener, with the slow-paced drumbeat and repetitive guitar, interspersed with rapid bursts of melody from the violin, creating an aura of being submerged in sound. Bono was apparently on a particularly high plane of spiritual consciousness when writing the lyrics, in a state of mind akin to that of one speaking in tongues, the effect being of stepping outside of the self and surrendering to a higher sense of love. The lines toward the end -- "Rise up, rise up/with wings like eagles/you'll run/you'll run/you'll run and not grow weary" -- are lifted from Isaiah 40:31, with the line seemingly blurred at times between dialogue and self-reflection. Is the song aimed at anyone in particular (such as the claim by Niall Stokes in U2 Into the Heart that the song is addressed to the then-irreligious Adam Clayton), or is it merely Bono channelling through himself the sentiments expressed by the higher power he's communing with?
8) "The Wanderer"
Here Bono makes Johnny Cash take on the role of the central character of the Book of Ecclesiastes, the wise old preacher whom he calls "the Wanderer." The post-Bill Gibson cityscapes of the rest of the Zooropa album are replaced by a still electronica-based, but more rural and folksy setting, where the protagonist, despite his insightful musings -- "I went out there in search of experience/to taste and to touch/and to feel as much/as a man can, before he repents" -- is mired with uncertainty, travelling through a land where corruption and temptation are never far away -- "I went out walking/through streets paved with gold/lifted some stones/saw the skin and bones/of a city without a soul" -- and where he is unsure if he'll ever make it back home, spiritually or physically:"Jesus, don't you wait up/Jesus I'll be home soon." In a brilliant and other-worldly fusion of industrial electronic beats and Johnny Cash's rustic vocals, the lost character in the album's title track here seems to have found his voice; although he may have a religion, he has no compass, and certainly no map.
7) "Love Rescue Me"
On this mournful track from Rattle and Hum, the strident certainty of the spiritual songs on U2's previous albums is replaced here with fear, guilt, despair and a sense of isolation from God. Described by Bono as being about "a man whom the whole world is looking to for salvation, but who needs a shot of salvation himself," the lyrics draw on imagery from the Psalms, where the King David-esque figure appears to be no longer deriving any comfort from the Lord's rod and staff (Ps. 23:4). Moving between self-hatred -- "I'm here without a name/in the palace of my shame" -- and anger at the outside world -- "Many strangers have I met/on the road to my regret/many lost who seek to find themselves in me/they ask me to reveal/the very thoughts they would conceal" -- the song is particularly moving live, perhaps most memorably during the band's 1989 New Year's Eve show at the Point Depot in Dublin, where Bono dedicated it to "those who work for Amnesty International and to those who depend on Amnesty International."
This was not the first time U2 had drawn on the love-hate howls of the Psalmist for inspiration, but in terms of their spiritual direction it marked a significant shift away from the unquestioning, wide-eyed devotion of many of their previous religiously-minded songs.
6) "The Playboy Mansion"
Spiritual discontent abounds on the Pop album, particularly so on "The Playboy Mansion," where the voice in the song wonders if in a world of rampant materialism, where "the banks they're like cathedrals" and "chance is a kind of religion," he has lost the ability to gain entrance to heaven, the ultimate "Playboy Mansion." Yet despite its cynicism, there remains a note of hope, with the speaker confident that the world around him does not need a sharp re-awakening, but will "come around." There are also echoes of Revelation 21:4 at the end when he asks "Then will there be no time for sorrow/then will there be no time for shame?" However, the speaker has to be content with solitary contemplation, as not for the first time, whoever resides within the mansion gives no reply.
5) "Wake Up Dead Man"
Bitter, enraged and at times desperate, the final song on the Pop album is a fierce antidote to any rose-tinted view of the spiritual life. Bono states his predicament bluntly and uncompromisingly in the first few lines, painting a grim picture of what is perhaps his boldest depiction of a life lived in isolation from both God and the wider world: "Jesus, Jesus help me/I'm alone in this world/and a fucked-up world it is too/tell me, tell me the story/the one about eternity/and the way it's all gonna be/wake up/ wake up dead man."
Crying out to a deity who may or may not have abandoned him, in "Wake Up Dead Man" (the lyrics of which were partly written by the Edge), Bono describes a bleak situation, one of being so consumed by naked anger with God that it makes hard listening for any believer. However, I've often found it the perfect sound track to those blackest of black moments, as the song almost perfectly articulates what it feels to have what Bono has called that "very valid" sense of outrage at a God who at times seems indifferent to the awfulness of the human condition. Like the best U2 songs, it makes uncomfortable, but undeniably necessary listening.
4) "Mercy"
Only recently have I begun to realise what an absolute gem this song is. Upon first hearing it, I was admittedly unimpressed. But gradually, repeated listening meant that it worked its way under my skin, at times talking to me quietly like a voice whispering in the ear, at others almost shouting to me at the top of its lungs. More than any other U2 song, "Mercy" seems to express pure humility, awe and devotion at the divine, one who is always referred to directly via relatable sentiments yet only described in specific religious terms in the first two lines: "I was drinking some wine/and it turned to blood/what's the use of religion/if you're any good?" The listener is instantly plunged into a familiar U2 theme: that of questioning organised religious structures whilst simultaneously cutting through determinedly to an instant dialogue with God. It has echoes of both "Please" ("You know I've found it hard to receive") and "Acrobat" ("Yeah, I'd break bread and wine/if there was a church I could receive in"), but instead of frustration, the sentiment expressed here is pure joy. Conveying both an overwhelming desire to give ("You're gravity searching for the ground") and receive ("Your heart is my home"), "Mercy" is arguably one of the few U2 songs where a true, unquestioning union with the deity, whoever or whatever he, she or it may be, is achieved. I can only begin to guess at why it was left off How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
3) "Yahweh"
Luckily, this is one song that the band chose to include on the aforementioned album. Despite certainly being a good choice as a closing track, "Yahweh" (which takes its title from the Hebrew word for God) is a song that in my view works best live. Stripped down to just an acoustic guitar, keyboard and vocals, this is heartfelt, content and intimate dialogue with the Lord, where Bono lays clear his perceived flaws -- "Take this mouth/so quick to criticise/take this mouth/give it a kiss" -- whilst never ceasing to subject the object of devotion to rigorous questioning via the refrain of "Yahweh/Yahweh/still I'm waiting for the dawn." A greater spiritual wisdom seems more apparent here than on the likes of "Wake Up Dead Man" as, despite his demand at the end to know "why the dark before the dawn?", Bono shockingly surrenders himself completely to the deity: "take this heart/take this heart/take this heart/and let it break." One of my most treasured moments as a U2 fan was watching "Yahweh" performed in Cardiff three-and-a-half years ago, with the final lines being sung against a background video of an egg hatching and a bird flying freely upwards, seeming to depict spiritual growth and freedom. To quote Bono, God was truly walking through the room at that point.
2) "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Along with "Running to Stand Still," this song has often competed to be my favourite on The Joshua Tree. Drawing on the rich language of the Psalms -- "I have spoke with the tongue of angels/I have held the hand of the Devil" -- "I Still Haven't Found..." is first and foremost, to quote Bono, "a song of doubt far more than it is of faith." The inevitable sense of restlessness and torment that defines the life of almost any believer at one time or another comes through particularly strongly here, as despite Bono's assertion to the Almighty that "You broke the bonds/loosed the chains/carried the cross/and my shame/all my shame/you know I believe it," he still remains unsatisfied: "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
Although Paul Gambacinni's description of the aforementioned lines as being like "a human being on a plate" is perhaps a little over-zealous, the spiritual condition inherent in the song certainly seems to match Bono's statement in Bono In Conversation with Michka Assayas that "the life of a true believer is one of a more uphill struggle, with things illuminated along the way." Judging by the way the line "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" is repeated throughout until the end, that struggle seems destined to be a never-ending one.
1) "40"
To this day, I still feel that all U2 songs that deal with matters of a spiritual, philosophical or religious nature ultimately have "40" as their benchmark. More than any other, this is a U2 song that for which the word 'transcendent' absolutely applies.
Yet it is another that I feel is only truly brought to life when performed live, as the version on War in many ways feels far too restrained. Most live versions of the song, from the 1989 concert at the Point Depot, to the one on the Chicago DVD, to the 1987 version in Paris that came with last year's super deluxe re-mastered edition of The Joshua Tree, have spanned at least five minutes in length, with Edge's soaring guitars, Larry's pounding drums and Bono's vocals drawn from Psalm 40 -- "I waited patiently on the Lord/He inclined and heard my cry/He lifted me up out of the pits/and out of the miry clay" -- ensuring that when "40" is performed live, what BP Fallon described as "the U2 magic" truly happens.
What I could honestly call my first true experience of God happened when I was listening for the first time to the version of the song performed live at the Point Depot that came with The Complete U2. Maybe it was the way the guitar just seemed to create the feeling of spiralling upwards, outside of oneself; maybe it was the continuous singing of "How long to sing this song?" by the crowd as every instrument bar the drums faded away into nothingness; or maybe it was just the sheer joy that the song seemed to express, free from doubt, pain or disillusionment. Things weren't quite the same for me after those seven minutes and 25 seconds came to an end; and every time I listen to it, they somehow still aren't.
(c) @U2/Fry, 2008. - October - 1981
Gloria
I try to sing this song
I...I try to stand up
But I can't find my feet
I try, I try to speak up
But only in you I'm complete
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—
you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.
Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.
When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared. Psalm 32
A life of secrecy is a journey of misery. Make yourself clean before God and others with the help of trusted friends, that's the secret of a glorious living
Fire
But there's a fire inside
When I'm falling over
There's a fire in me
When I call out
I built a fire
I'm going home
I watched while he ripped off the sixth seal: a bone-jarring earthquake, sun turned black as ink, moon all bloody, stars falling out of the sky like figs shaken from a tree in a high wind, sky snapped shut like a book, islands and mountains sliding this way and that. Revelation 6:12-14.
These pictures of Revelation suggest times of "fire" and individual "burning". These images are designed to provide encouragement and victory in times of trouble
Tomorrow
Who healed the wounds
Who heals the scars
Open the door
Open the door
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed. Isaiah 53:4,5
Healing has a spiritual dimension. This dimension is a key to open doors to personal glory.
There are before our eyes open doors that no one can shut. The human experience is composed and determined by our walk through a succession of open doors from beginning to the end. The final door is a door to Gloryland
October
October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care
October
October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care
October
And Kingdoms rise
And Kingdoms fall
But you go on...
...and on...
While you were looking at this statue, a stone cut out of a mountain by an invisible hand hit the statue, smashing its iron-ceramic feet. Then the whole thing fell to pieces—iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold, smashed to bits. It was like scraps of old newspapers in a vacant lot in a hot dry summer, blown every which way by the wind, scattered to oblivion. But the stone that hit the statue became a huge mountain, dominating the horizon. This was your dream. Daniel 2:34-36
Power is not the ability to control, but the ability to grant justice and mercy
With a Shout
Oh, and where do we go?
Where do we go from here?
Where to go
To the side of a hill
Blood was spilt
We were still looking at each other
Oh, we're goin' back there
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always. Psalms 121
The divine destination for human beings is the arms of love, assurance and care from within and above
I Threw a Brick Through a Window
I was walking
I was walking into walls
I'm back again
I just keep walking
I walk into a window
To see myself
And my reflection
When I thought about it
My direction
Going nowhere
Going nowhere
Psalm of David
God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!
Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life. Psalm 139
The first step to clarity is confusion. Confusion is a perplexing reminder that we need help as we move forward to clarity. Isolation is traumatizing and discouraging, but we are not alone
Stranger In a Strange Land
Stranger
A stranger in a strange land
He look at me like I
Was the one who should run
I watched as he watched us
Get back on the bus
I watched the way it was
The way it was when he was with us
A Stranger in our Self-Talk
That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?” Luke 24:13-18
Love, miracles, and wisdom are everywhere but our eyes are closed to the essential things of life. They are closed with the veil of distraction, noise and anxiety. Stop,Look and Listen! There are many places of safety in this land
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I cant believe the news today
Oh, I cant close my eyes and make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? how long...
A David Psalm
Please, God, no more yelling,
no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I’m so starved for affection.
Can’t you see I’m black and blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?
Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I’m no good to you dead, am I?
I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!
I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
On the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears. Psalm 6:1-6
The spiritual being experience within herself the pain of her Maker and the pain of others. This pain is relieved through the pursuit of justice- A Celebration - 1982
A Celebration
I believe in the walls of Jericho (And you...)
I believe they're coming down (Can go there too)
I belive in this city's children (And you... )
I believe the trumpet's sound (can go go go go)
The priests blew the trumpets.
When the people heard the blast of the trumpets, they gave a thunderclap shout. The wall fell at once. The people rushed straight into the city and took it. Joshua 6:20
Sometimes we walk in dry land through the Red Sea. Often we have to walk around walls before we get to our destination- War - 1983
Seconds
Lightning flashes across the sky
East to west, do or die
Like a thief in the night
See the world by candlelight.
Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb,right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations.
Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping, they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age. Revelation 22:1-5
C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy describes a serendipitous personal experience. All this may happen in seconds. The journey to paradise is our deepest longing intensified as we stare at the sun, moon, stars, or walk in a beach at the sound of birds and waves. In every heartbeat we hear a call to a sweeter, richer, and deeper experience of life.
Like a Song
And if you can't help yourself
Well take a look around you
When others need your time
You say it's time to go...it's your time
Angry words won't stop the fight
Two wrongs won't make it right
A new heart is what I need
Oh God, make it bleed
Is there nothing left...
Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Psalm 51:1-10
The longing for a clean bill of health and a fresh start is an antidote to soul stagnation and eventual insanity
Drowning Man
Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
For I have promised
Oh, to be with you tonight
And for the time that will come
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.
He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
they walk and don’t lag behind. Isaiah 40:28-31
Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff has wisely articulated the basic human choice: follow the low risk chicken lifestyle or embrace the rich rewards of the eagle adventure. Only the eagles can sing: I'll cross the sky for your loveI waited patiently for
the Lord
40
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay
A David Psalm
Please, God, no more yelling,
no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I’m so starved for affection.
Can’t you see I’m black and blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?
Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I’m no good to you dead, am I?
True spirituality is life-giving and inspiring. False spirituality major on death, graves and worship of man-made gods: Their gods are metal and wood, handmade in a basement shop: Carved mouths that can’t talk, painted eyes that can’t see,Tin ears that can’t hear, molded noses that can’t smell,
Hands that can’t grasp, feet that can’t walk or run, throats that never utter a sound. Those who make them have become just like them, have become just like the gods they trust (Psalm 115: 3-8). The living God is everywhere open to the prayers of everyone.
Two Hearts Beat As One
"Say I'm a fool; You say I'm nothing; But if I'm a fool for you, Oh, that's something" I Cor 3:18 If any one among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. I Cor 4:10 We are fools for Christ's sake. (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Surrender
"If I wanna live I gotta die to myself someday" -- Luke 9:24-25: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
- The Unforgettable Fire - 1984
Pride
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought in. When the men were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t respect my gods and refuse to worship the gold statue that I have set up?
I’m giving you a second chance—but from now on, when the big band strikes up you must go to your knees and worship the statue I have made. If you don’t worship it, you will be pitched into a roaring furnace, no questions asked. Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” Daniel 3:13-18
Any political or religious system that demands coerced submission from all regardless of their convictions and principles of conscience is a system of idolatry worthy of full and conscious disregard.
The God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.
Martin Luther King was among a few good men who would rather die than to bow down before the shrines of cowardice
- The Joshua Tree - 1984
Where the Streets Have No Name
I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise.
Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
Hebrews 11:1,2, 8-10
We are all pilgrims longing for our promised land with abundance of milk and honey. Life can be unfair to many in positive and negative ways.
Whether we receive premium treatment or abandonment our eyes should stay focus on that city promised to all Abraham's children. The science of a victorious life is in essence to keep dreaming and believing in spite "evidences" to the contrary
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead.
Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs.
These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. Romans 8: 18-26
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
"I have spoken with the tongue of angels" -- 1 Corinthians 13:1: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
With or Without You
"See the thorn twist in your side" -- 2 Corinthians 12:7: "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."
Bullet the Blue Sky
"Jacob wrestled the angel/And the angel was overcome" -- Genesis 32:25: "Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn."
Running To Stand Still
"Sweet the sin, Bitter the taste in my mouth" -- Rev 10:10 "And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
In God's Country
"Hope, faith, her vanity/The greatest gift is gold" -- an ironic take (who says U2 didn't discover irony until Achtung Baby?) on 1 Corinthians 13:13: "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (Thanks to Mateo)
"I stand with the sons of Cain" --In Genesis 4 Cain kills his brother and is marked forever by God and sent away as a murderer, thus experiencing the scary aspect of coming into contact with the divine ("burned by the fire of love.") In exile Cain has sons: one of the sons of Cain, Jubal, is traditionally considered the ancestor of musicians. "He was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Trip Through Your Wires
"I was cold and you clothed me honey..." -- Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me..."
One Tree Hill
"You know his blood still cries from the ground" -- Genesis 4:10 -- "[The murder of Abel by Cain] The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground."
"I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky..." -- see note on "Fire."
"We run like a river to the sea" -- Ecclesiastes 1:7: "All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going."
Exit
"Saw the hands that build can also pull down" -- Jer 1:10 "See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." And Jer 31:28 "Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
- Rattle and Hum - 1988
Hawkmoon 269
"Like tongues of flame" -- Acts 2:3: "[The apostles receive the Holy Spirit] Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them."
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (Rattle and Hum version)
"He'll be your shelter from the storm" -- Psalm 55:8: "I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm." (another stretch)
Silver and Gold
This obviously has a literal meaning in the song, but it is also a very frequently used phrase in the Bible and it has some positive and some negative meanings. Among the ones that fit the song most are: Deut 29:17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Ps 133:15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. Zeph 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD's wrath. (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Love Rescue Me
"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow/Yet I will fear no evil/I have cursed they rod and staff/They no longer comfort me..." -- Psalm 23 -- "Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage."
When Love Comes to Town
"I was there when they crucified my Lord/I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword/I threw the dice when they pierced his side..." -- Matthew 27:35: "After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots."
- Achtung Baby - 1991
One
One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.
One life, but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One, one.
In ONE Bone defines Love as a Temple and a Higher Law. He is not alone in that conviction: Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help.
You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics. Matt 23:4-7,24.
Micah understood the essence of true spiritually centered life: But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
Be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. Micah 6:8
True religion is a religion of the heart ruled by a higher law of Love and an Ethics of Equality and Compassion applied to Business, Leadership. Relationships, and Government: One Law, One Temple, One People.
The Fly
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's no secret that our world is in darkness tonight.
They say the sun is sometimes eclipsed by the moon
Y' know I don't see you when she walks in the room.
The impressionistic picture of Revelation 13 portrays a Lamb who was slain from the beginning of the world in opposition to a Beast who becomes an object of universal worship through Lamb-like features and decrees. What this picture is trying to tell us?
I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke. It was a puppet of the first Beast, made earth and everyone in it worship the first Beast, which had been healed of its deathblow.
This second Beast worked magical signs, dazzling people by making fire come down from Heaven. It used the magic it got from the Beast to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of the Beast that received the deathblow and lived. It was able to animate the image of the Beast so that it talked, and then arrange that anyone not worshiping the Beast would be killed.
It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead. Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything. Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It’s a human number: six hundred sixty-six.
Revelation 13: 11-18
- Could this riddle of a human number (666) signify a deceptive but close to perfection forgery of truth?
- If the number 7 equals perfection in the Scriptures could the 666 Beast strive to speak and act as the Lamb while driven by the Dragon?
- Can true religion whether Muslin, Christian or Jewish force “conversion” through coercive means?
- Can we impose self-transformation through self-imposed values without respect for our true desires, convictions and will?
Piaget and his followers were right in developing a theory of moral development in which the motivational structure (moral judgment) is as important as the decisions themselves
Until the End of the World
I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You...you were acting like it was
The end of the world
Antichrists Everywhere You Look
Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they’re all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That’s how we know that we’re close to the end.
They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.
But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies. I John 2:18-21
Bono understood with rare clarity and inspired insight the true meaning of the end times: You...you were acting like it was the end of the world. The innocent eyes of Jesus exposed the corruption of Judas "religious" agenda. By his thoughts, emotions and deeds the false disciple became the paradigm for all future antichrists throughout history.
The silver coins (love of money), the kiss (deceptive love) , despair and suicide (remorse and agony) is a warning to all generations. The great sign of the end is the cross of calvary and the events surrounding it. The greatest sign of the second coming is Jesus personal resurrection. In that sense our greatest hope is in the past that embraces the present and kisses eternity lips
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
"Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot/for any spirit to haunt" -- Luke 11:24-26:"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
So Cruel
"Between the horses of love and lust we are trampled underfoot" -- 2 Kings 9:33 (The death of Jezebel): "' Throw her down!' Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot."
Mysterious Ways
Tarheel Tim's taken care of this one by pointing out elements of the song (the moon, Johnny, living underground, running away from what you don't understand, belly dancing, even the title phrase) that are also in Oscar Wilde's play "Salome." The Biblical story of Salome can be found in Mark 6: 17-29.
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World
"He took an open top Beetle/through the eye of a needle" -- Luke 18:24-25 -- "Jesus looked at him now sad and said, 'How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
"Alex Descends Into Hell..."
"Dies irae, dies illa/Dies irae, dies illa Tuba mirum spargens sonum {on the day of wrath, that day, the trumpet's wondrous call}" -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."
(From the Requiem Mass) "Dies irae/dies illa/Tuba mirum/Spargens sonum (That day of wrath/That day/The trumpet's wondrous call/Sounding abroad)" --1 Corinthians 15:52: "...in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
(Note: the last line "Descendit in Inferno" is not part of the Dies Irae, but the Creed: "He descended into Hell")
Salome
The song, like Oscar Wilde's play "Salome," is taken from the story of the death of John the Baptist; see Mark 6:17-29.
"Give you half what I got if you untie the knot, it's a promise" -- Mark 6:22-23: "Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, 'Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.' He even swore [many things] to her, 'I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.'" [Note: I just now noticed that the name "Salome" is never mentioned in these accounts, just as it is never mentioned that the dance she performs is the dance of the seven veils. But this account grew into a medieval legend, and perhaps the extra details came into the story then.]
"Baby I feel sick, don't make me stick to a promise" -- Mark 6:25-26: "The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, 'I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.' The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her."- Zooropa - 1993
Lemon
"And when you're dry/She draws her water from the stone" -- Numbers 20:8: "[God said to Moses] 'Take this staff and assemble thee community, you and your brother Aaron, and in their presence order the rock to yield its waters. From the rock you shall bring forth water for the community and their livestock to drink.'"
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
"Stay with the demons you drowned" -- Matthew 9:31-32: "The demons pleaded with [Jesus], 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.' And he said to them, 'Go then!' They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned."
The First Time
"Gave me the keys to his kingdom coming" -- Matthew 16:19: "[Jesus said to Peter] 'I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'"
"He said 'I have many mansions/And there are many rooms to see' " -- John 14:2: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
The Wanderer
"Through streets paved with gold" -- Revelation 21:21: "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass."
"Who would sit at his Father's right hand" -- Matthew 26:64: "'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied. 'But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.'"
Another possible title for this song, according to an interview with Bono in the book Race of Angels, was "The Preacher." Though no lines correspond exactly, the spirit of the song echoes the entire book of Ecclesiastes (also sometimes called "The Preacher"). For instance: "I went out there in search of experience/to taste and to touch and to feel as much as a man can before he repents" and Ecclesiastes 11:9: "Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; yet understand as regards all this God will bring you to judgment."
- Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1
Elvis Ate America
Elvis... with God on his knees
Elvis... owned three TVs
Here come the killer bees
Head full of honey potato chips and cheese
Elvis... the bumper stickers
Elvis... the white knickers
Elvis... the white nigger
Ate at king burger and just kept getting bigger
God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life. Psalm 23
Elvis was never alone in Graceland, in his bedroom, in his concerts, and in his kichen. Mistakes were made, sins were committed. But Elvis was never alone to his very end.- Pop - 1997
If God Will Send His Angels
"It's the blind leading the blond" -- Matthew 15:14: "Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
"So where is the hope, and where is the faith, and the love?" -- 1 Corinthians 13:13. (Thanks to Mateo)
The Playboy Mansion
"Then there will be no time of sorrow, then there will be no time for pain" -- Revelation 21:4: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
Please
"Your sermon on the mount" -- Matthew 5:1-12 or Luke 6:20-26
Wake Up Dead Man
"your Father, He made the world in seven" -- Genesis 1:1-2:4
"Wake up, wake up dead man" -- possibly Ephesians 5:14: "...for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: 'Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'" (Thanks to Nanette)
- The Best of 1980-1990 - 1998
- All That You Can't Leave Behind - 2000
Beautiful Day
"The heart is a bloom/shoots up through the stony ground" -- Isaiah 52:3: "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground." (submitted by Andrew)
"See the bird with the leaf in her mouth" -- Genesis 8:10-11: "[Noah] waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark. In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth."
"After the flood all the colours came out" -- Genesis 9:12-13: "God added: 'This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.'"
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
"I am not afraid of anything in this world" -- Luke 12:4: "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more."
Walk On
"A place that has to be believed to be seen" -- John 11:40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (submitted by Rev. Beth)
"Home - I can't say where it is, but I know I'm going" -- John 14: 4-6 Jesus said, "You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
In A Little While
"In a little while, I won't be blown by every breeze..." -- Ephesians 4:14 Then, we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of doctrine. (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Wild Honey
"You were my shelter and my shade" -- Isaiah 25:4 "You have been... a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Grace
"She carries a pearl in perfect condition" -- Matt 13:45-46 "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
"What left a mark no longer stains" -- Not a quote, but a pretty clear allusion to Isaiah 1:18 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (submitted by Rev. Beth)
Always
"Put your head over the parapet" -- Matthew 4:5-6: From the temptation of Jesus--"Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: "He will command his angels concerning you" and "with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone."'"
(Now this one has an unusual history. The first time I heard Bono talking about "putting one's head over the parapet" was in an interview about the Million Dollar Hotel. He was talking about the necessity for rock musicians to take risks that would leave them vulnerable. It was only because this was in the context of a movie about a man jumping from a roof that it was clear he was referencing this verse -- that and the fact the word "parapet" doesn't show up that often in the Bible.)- The Best of 1990-2000 - 2002
- How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 2004
Mercy
I can hear so much
Fear nothing
I feel so much
Fear... nothing
Love has come again
I am gone again
Love is the end of history
The enemy of misery
Love has come again
I am gone again
Love is justice, not charity
Love brings with it a clarity
Love has come again
I'm alive again
Alive...
I am alive, baby i'm born again and again
And again, and again and again and again
Again
The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
“You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.” John 3:3
In Mercy the U2 defines the meaning of spiritual grandeur and spiritual audacity according to Love as the higher Law and a Temple. This ethics is heart based and politically viable: it envolves all energies of the soul, body and mind. It overcomes sentimental charity with the demands of justice.
From the ashes of feel good spirituality the new birth of caring justice will be enacted again and again until the whole land is shadowed by the tree of righteousness. We will become like a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom. Psalm 1.
Vertigo
"All of this can be yours/just give me what I want/and no one gets hurt" -- the temptation by Jesus in the desert by Satan, specifically what the Devil tells him in Luke 4:7: "So if you worship me, it will all be yours." (submitted first by Alain and thereafter by many, many others)
Miracle Drug
"I was a stranger/you took me in" -- Matthew 25:34-35: "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..." ("and ye took me in" in the King James Version) (submitted first by Robin)
Love and Peace or Else
"Lay down your treasure" -- Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (submitted by Robin)
Also would like to point out (per Rev. Beth) that contrary to the lyric booklet, the line is quite likely to be "you don't have time/before a jealous lover," in which case any number of variations on the phrase "The Lord your God is a jealous God" could be linked.
City of Blinding Lights
"Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel/luckily" -- Matthew 5:44-45: "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
All Because of You
"All because of you/I am" -- A few folks have found it interesting that the same album that has a song called "Yahweh" has a song with a close English translation of the Hebrew name of God-see Exodus 3:13-14: "'But,' said Moses to God, 'when I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," if they ask me, "What is his name?" what am I to tell them?' God replied, 'I am who I am.' Then he added, 'This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.'"
Crumbs From Your Table
"I would believe if I was able/I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table" -- Matthew 15:21-27: Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Yahweh
The title is the name of God given in the passage quoted for "All Because of You," "I am who I am."
"A city should be shining on a hill" -- Matthew 5:14: "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid." (submitted by Robin)
Fast Cars
"My garden's overgrown/I go out on my belly crawling" -- allusion to the serpent in the story of the Fall and the curse given the serpent in Genesis 3:14: "Then the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life."