Whiter Than Snow is a gospel hymn written by James L. Nicholson in 1872 and set to music by William G. Fischer. It begins Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole and ends every verse with the prayer Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. The line comes from David's prayer of repentance in Psalm 51:7: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. The hymn asks Christ to remove every idol, accept a full surrender and create a new heart, and it rests its hope on His blood and on His promise never to turn away anyone who seeks Him.
Psalm 51 is the prayer David prayed after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba. It is the church's classic prayer of repentance, read on Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent. Nearly three thousand years after David, James Nicholson, a Methodist layman, turned one of its lines into a hymn. Whiter Than Snow became one of the most-sung songs of the revival meetings of Moody and Sankey, and it was printed in their Gospel Hymns. The hymn is a series of short prayers, each beginning Lord Jesus. It asks for wholeness, surrender, cleansing and a new heart, and it waits patiently at the foot of the cross for the answer. Below are the four verses and refrain as printed in 1894, followed by 12 KJV passages that stand behind its lines.
Whiter Than Snow: the words
Verse 1
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.
Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Verse 2
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.
Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Verse 3
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat;
I wait, blessed 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.
Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Verse 4
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;
Come now, and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee, Thou never said'st No—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Words: James L. Nicholson (about 1828-1876), 1872. Music: William G. Fischer (1835-1912). Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (New York and Chicago, 1894), hymn 82 (Internet Archive scan), which prints these four verses; Nicholson's first printing had more, and some hymnals print five or six. The refrain is sung after every verse. Not to be confused with Blessed Be the Fountain of Blood (Whiter Than Snow), a different hymn. Public domain.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow: David's prayer
1. Psalms 51:7
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
The hymn sings the phrase whiter than snow sixteen times. David prays, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hyssop was a small bushy plant used in the law of Moses to sprinkle blood and water for cleansing, for example at the first Passover and in the cleansing of a leper. David knew that no ritual could remove his guilt for adultery and murder, so he asked God Himself to do the washing. Whiter than snow means cleaner than the cleanest thing he could imagine. Nicholson's hymn makes the same request and puts it in the mouth of every believer.
2. Psalms 51:10
"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
David's prayer goes deeper than forgiveness: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Create is the word used in Genesis 1 for what only God can do, making something new. David is asking not just for his record to be cleared but for his heart to be changed. Nicholson's last verse echoes this line: Come now, and within me a new heart create. The hymn is not satisfied with being let off. It wants to be made new, so that the same sin does not keep returning. That is the difference between regret and true repentance.
3. Isaiah 1:16
"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;"
Through Isaiah God calls His people, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil. This could sound like an order to clean ourselves, and in one sense it is: repentance means turning from sin. But two verses later God says, Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). The command and the promise go together. We turn, and God cleanses. The hymn holds both: I give up myself, and Now wash me. We cannot do the washing, but we can stop resisting it.
4. Ezekiel 36:25
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."
God promised Israel in exile, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. Notice how often God says I will in this passage. Cleansing is His work from beginning to end. Notice too that the promise mentions idols, the very thing Nicholson's first verse asks God to break down. Sin is not only wrong things we do; it is wrong things we love more than God. God's promise covers both the filthiness and the idols. That is why the hymn can ask with confidence.
Break down every idol: a complete sacrifice
5. 1 John 5:21
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."
John ends his first letter with an unexpected line: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. He has written about love, light and eternal life, and his last word is a warning. An idol is anything that takes God's place in our hearts, whether a statue or money, comfort, approval or success. Nicholson's prayer Break down every idol, cast out every foe recognizes that Christians cannot always see their own idols. So he asks the Lord to find and remove them. Whiter Than Snow is a hymn for honest self-examination, the kind of prayer Lent invites.
6. Romans 12:1
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
The second verse prays, help me to make a complete sacrifice; I give up myself, and whatever I know. Paul's appeal is the same: present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. A living sacrifice is given once and lived out every day. Notice Paul's motive: by the mercies of God. We do not surrender in order to be accepted. We surrender because God has already shown us mercy. The hymn is not a bargain, as if God will wash us only after we give up enough. It is a response to the love that washes us.
7. Philippians 3:7-8
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"
Paul describes what a complete sacrifice looked like in his life: what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. He had a fine pedigree, a strict religious life and great zeal. He counted all of it as loss, even as rubbish, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. This is what Nicholson means by I give up myself, and whatever I know. Even our religious achievements can become something we trust instead of Christ. Paul gave them up, not to earn Christ, but because Christ was worth more than everything else.
8. Ezekiel 36:26
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."
The verse after God's promise of clean water continues: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. God promises to take away the stony heart, hard and unresponsive, and give a heart of flesh, soft and alive to Him. This is the new heart Nicholson asks for in his last verse. It is also the new birth Jesus described to Nicodemus (John 3:5). A cleaned stone is still a stone. God does more than clean. He replaces. Whiter than snow on the outside comes from a new heart on the inside.
I see Thy blood flow: cleansing and patient waiting
9. 1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
How does a Christian receive this cleansing? John answers: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confess means to say the same thing God says about our sin, without excuses. Notice that God is called faithful and just to forgive. It would be unjust for Him to punish sins Christ has already paid for. And notice the word all. The hymn's third verse, By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow, is exactly this: confession that looks to the cross and trusts God to keep His promise.
10. Hebrews 10:22
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Because of Christ's sacrifice, Hebrews invites believers: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. The sprinkling recalls the blood of the old covenant sacrifices; the washing recalls the priests' cleansing before they served. Both are now fulfilled in Christ. The hymn's posture is the same: I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet. A guilty conscience keeps us at a distance. A cleansed one lets us come near with confidence.
11. Psalms 40:1
"I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry."
Nicholson's last verse opens, Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait. David wrote, I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Waiting is not doubt. It is faith that keeps praying when the answer has not yet come. God bent down, inclined, to listen. In the following verses David says God lifted him out of a horrible pit and put a new song in his mouth. The hymn ends in the same confidence: To those who have sought Thee, Thou never said'st No. No one who comes to Christ for cleansing is turned away (John 6:37).
12. Revelation 7:14
"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
John sees a great multitude in white robes and is told, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is where the hymn's prayer finally ends. People who prayed Now wash me are seen in heaven, clothed in white. The picture is a paradox: blood that makes robes white. It can only be explained by the cross. Whiter Than Snow is a Lent hymn, but it looks forward to Easter and beyond, to the day when every washed sinner stands before the throne.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, I long to be whole. Break down every idol in my heart and cast out everything that keeps me from You. I give up myself and whatever I know. I wait at Your cross and confess my sins, trusting that You are faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Thank You that You have never turned away anyone who sought You. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Get the free Lent Bible reading plan · Print the free large-print Psalms (incl. Psalm 51) · Pray through Psalm 51 with the 30-Day Prayer Journal
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the hymn Whiter Than Snow?
The words were written by James L. Nicholson, a Methodist layman, in 1872. The tune was composed by William G. Fischer, who also wrote the music for I Love to Tell the Story. The hymn spread widely through the Moody and Sankey meetings and their Gospel Hymns books.
What Bible verse is Whiter Than Snow based on?
The hymn is based on Psalm 51:7, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. It also echoes Psalm 51:10 (a new heart), Isaiah 1:18 (though your sins be as scarlet) and the cleansing blood of 1 John 1:7.
How many verses does Whiter Than Snow have?
Gospel Hymns (1894), which we copied above, prints four verses with the refrain. Nicholson's first printing had more verses, and some hymnals print five or six. All of Nicholson's verses are in the public domain.
Is Whiter Than Snow a good hymn for Lent?
Yes. Psalm 51 is read on Ash Wednesday, and the hymn turns its prayer for cleansing and a new heart into song, which makes it a natural choice for Lent, communion services and times of confession. See our Lent hymns for more.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Psalm 51 KJV · Jesus Paid It All · Nothing but the Blood · Just As I Am · Lent Hymns · Forgiveness · Repentance · Lent
Explore more: All Bible verses by topic · KJV Bible verses · Verse of the day · Prayers · Bible study · Bible reading plans
