Dennis Jernigan – You Are My All In All

Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Jernigan is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist.  He became active in 1989, with impressive discography.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Dennis-jernigan-you-are-my-all-in-all-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

This song lists several reasons why God is worthy of praise, including:

• Strength in frailty
• More valuable than earthly goods or pursuits
• The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world
• Rose from the dead
• Lifts up His fallen children
• Provides living water to those who thirst

Side Note: To those annoyed by massive repetition, the song ends with two lines repeating six times in a row.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

The entire song oozes with Scriptural goodness,

[Verse 1]

Line 1: God is Jernigan’s source of power when they are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Lines 2 and 3: God is Jernigan’s most prized possession.  Everything else is considered rubbish compared to knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8-10).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: References the Pearl of Great Price in Matthew 13:45-46, where the Kingdom of God is compared to a costly jewel, acquired by selling everything.  Also, see Verse 1, line 2.

Line 3: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

[Chorus]

Line 1: Jesus is called the Lamb of God in the sense that He was slain for our lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, John 1:36, Acts 8:32, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:6-8, Revelation 5:12-13, Revelation 6:1, Revelation 7:9-17, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 14:1-10, Revelation 15:3, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:7-9, and Revelation 21:9).

Line 2: That is, Jesus is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power (Revelation 4:11).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 3]

Line 1: Jesus paid the penalty for Jernigan’s sin (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

Line 2: Jesus resurrected (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).  For the latter half, see Chorus, line 2.

Line 3: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

[Verse 4]

Line 1: God upholds His children who fall (Psalm 37:24, Psalm 42:5, Psalm 94:18, Psalm 119:117, Psalm 145:14, and Psalm 146:8).

Line 2: Line 2: When Jernigan feels spiritually parched, God provides living water (Jeremiah 17:13, Zechariah 14:8-9, John 4:7-26, John 7:37-39, Acts 2:1-13, Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 7:13-17, Revelation 21:6-7, and Revelation 22:1-5).

Line 3: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

The Chorus is the dead giveaway that this song is about Jesus, who is worthy of the praise that Christians offer Him, explicitly naming Jesus as their object of worship.  Jernigan’s language is everyday and easy for unbelievers to interpret, except for Verse 4’s second line.  Unbelievers probably won’t think about living water when it comes to filling one’s cup.  The word “sin”, seen typically as mere error and not defined as violation of God’s Laws, is described as “my shame”.

Score: 9/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as Jernigan’s object of worship, providing ample justification for His praise.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Dennis Jernigan’s You Are My All In All is excellent.  It explains why God is their “all in all”, including His strength in weakness, value higher than all else, payment for sin, and resurrection from the dead, glorifying God.  Unbelievers should have little to no issues interpreting similarly, except for “When I am dry You fill my cup”.

I highly recommend it for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: You Are My All In All (listen to the song)

Artist: Dennis Jernigan

Album: Break My Heart, Oh God

Genre: Hymn

Release Year: 1990

Duration: 4:21

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Updates:

01/04/2023 – Spirit & Truth Ministries informed me that Dennis Jernigan released this song on an earlier album, Break My Heart, Oh God, in 1990.  I updated this review to use the earlier release date.  I also updated the video link to point to this earlier recording.  Aside from an extra repeated Chorus at the end, and the final line of Chorus repeated three times thereafter, all the words from the lyrics in the link provided are identical to the 2002 release.