Whiter Than Snow
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe; Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Chorus
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain, Apply Thine own blood and extract ev’ry stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies, And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself, and whatever I know, Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat, I wait, blessèd Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow, Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait, Come now, and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst “No,” Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
The blessing by faith, I receive from above; O glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know, The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.
I had hoped to have a nice snow this winter to be able to write about this particular hymn. Unfortunately, it has been in the 70’s lately and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen any time soon, but I thought this song would be appropriate as we approach the Easter season (specifically because of the reference to the Crucifixion found in verse 4). This song is based upon Scripture found in Psalms 51:7 which reads “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” This Psalm was written by David after he had been confronted by Nathan the prophet regarding the sin he committed with Bathsheba. The entire Psalm is a prayer asking God for forgiveness and cleansing.
Several phrases are really noteworthy in this hymn:
- “Break down every idol; cast out every foe” – Did you notice the author is asking the Lord to break down and cast out, not asking that He give him the strength to do these things? I believe this is because it is often difficult for us to do that in our own lives. Sometimes the “idols” have been there so long, that it becomes nearly impossible for us to remove them on our own. The author realizes that this is not something that he can do through his own strength, so his prayer is for the Lord to do it. I believe there are times in our lives when we definitely need Him to break them down, and cast them out so that these hindrances can be eliminated from our lives.
- “To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego” – This particular verse is not found in many of the hymnals I have looked at. I wonder if the “works” connotation – i.e. I will do certain things or give up certain things to earn His salvation – made some editors uncomfortable and therefore, they have excluded it from the hymnals. The impression I get is not that however. I think of when Jesus told a young man in Matthew 19 to sell all his possessions, give to the poor, and then follow Him. Was the purpose of His command to say that this rich young ruler had to do certain things to be saved? No. Was His purpose to expose or test the motive of His heart? Yes. Likewise, the author here is saying, I will do whatever I have to be washed clean because I desire that more than anything else.
- “To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst “No” – This is probably my favorite line in this hymn and can be summed up in the words – whosoever will. God’s arms are wide open. For those that are earnestly seeking Him, they will find Him. He won’t say “No.” His desire is to have relationship with us if we will seek Him with our whole heart. Deuteronomy 4:29 says “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. “
Have you ever seen a friend with an extremely dirty car? Have you ever written “Wash Me” in the dirt on the back window? I have to admit I have done this on several occasions to both friends and family members. The phrase “Wash me” in this hymn made me wonder about the kind of cleansing the author prayed for, and the kind of cleansing we should truly desire. The question for us is “What kind of “washing” do we really desire?”
- Do we want a “touchless” wash? – This is the kind of wash you get where there are no brushes and no contact with your car. You know going into the wash that the “touchless” car wash never gets the car completely clean. It does a “so-so” job. There is always left over dirt and spots that were missed, or stains that you know won’t come out. The benefit to this type of wash is that it is “quick” if your goal is just to get it over with. But is this the right kind of cleansing we need?
- Do we want an automatic wash with brushes? – This is the kind of car wash where the type of car you have really doesn’t matter. The car wash doesn’t know if you are a sportscar, 4X4 pickup, or a minivan. The car is driven into the bay and the machine takes over. The brushes will leave a few scratches sometimes, and maybe even tear up an antenna and do more serious damage. It probably cleans certain parts of the car better than a “touchless” wash, but it, too, does not do a good job. The “positive” is no one has to get their hands “dirty” with this type of cleansing, but is this the right kind of cleansing we need?
- Or do we want a “Hand wash?” – Finally, there is “hand” washing. This is the most time consuming of the three, and if done right, will clean every stain on the car. This kind of cleaning gets the “bugs and tar” from the front hood – the “junk” that we get as we travel through this life. Hand washing cleans the “wheel wells” and the underneath the “bumpers” from the dirt we pick up dirt from dealing with the everyday situations of life. “Handwashing” will typically involve a cleaning of the inside and outside of the car.
Jesus desires that we be clean – Inside and out. Not as a result of our own efforts and actions. But from the cleansing that comes from His blood.