"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than show" (Psa. 51.7).

     A song that is based on this verse and asks the Lord to wash us from our sins in "Whiter Than Snow" (#303 in "Hymns for Worship").  The text was written by James Nicholson (1828-1876).  An immigrant from Ireland who lived first in Philadelphia, PA, and then in Washington, DC, he was a clerk in the U.S. Post Office Department who was also active in various types of religious work, such as teaching Sunday school classes, leading singing, assisting in evangelistic efforts, and producing hymn texts. These words in six stanzas may have been penned in 1871.

     The song first appeared in a 16 page pamphlet entitled "Joyful Songs No. 4," published in 1872 at Philadelphia by the Methodist Episcopal Book Room.  The tune (Fischer) was composed by William Gustavus Fischer (1835-1912).  Each of the stanzas originally began, "Dear Jesus" instead of  "Lord Jesus."   It is not known who made this and other alterations, but the present version is taken from "Gospel Hymns No. 2," published in 1896 by Ira David Sankey (1840-1908).  Sankey often altered the hymns which appeared in his collections.

     This hymn expresses the desire for forgiveness from Christ.

I. In stanza 1, the Lord is asked to ehlp us break down every idol that would shut Him out

 A. God has always condemned idolatry: Exo. 20.3-5

 B. However, not all idols are images of stone; many are false concepts in our minds: Ezek. 14.1-4

 C. Therefore, we need to keep ourselves from ALL idols: Col. 3.5, 1 Jn. 5.21.  Whatever idols we allow in our hearts will keep Jesus from washing our sins

II. In stanza 2, the Lord is asked to help us make a complete sacrifice

 A. In the Old Testament, people offered animal sacrifices  for their sins: Lk. 1.3-4

 B. We do not need to do this today, because Jesus Christ has come and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins: Heb. 9.11-14

 C. However, He does ask us to make a sacrifice to Him--instead of dead animals, we must offer our bodies as living sacrifices in His service: Rom. 12.1-2.  The only way that Jesus will wash us from our sins is if we are willing to present ourselves as living sacrifices to Him

III. In stanza 3, the Lord is asked to come into our lives and create a new heart

 A. Some have objected to the phrase, "Thou seest I patiently wait," and have changed it to "I see Thou doest patiently wait," because the original wording sounds so much like the mourner's bench type of religion in which the sinner prays and prays, just waiting for Jesus to come and save Him.  However, the Bible does not teach that we have to beg and wait for Jesus to come and save us, because God has already sent Christ to save us and He wants all people to be saved: 1 Tim. 1.15, 2.4-5

 B. This mourner's bench type of religion is an outgrowth of the Calvinistic idea that all people are born sinners and therefore cannot do anything to save themselves but must wait for God to send the irresistable grace of the Holy Spirit into their hearts to enable them to believe and be saved.  However, this makes people totally passive in their salvation, whereas the Bible teaches that rather than waiting for Christ to come to us in some nebulous or mysterious way, we need to come to Him in obedience to His will: Matt. 11.28-30, Heb. 5.8-9

 C. So instead of our waiting for Christ to come to come to us, the Bible pictures Christ as waiting at the door of our hearts for us to open to Him by doing His will: Rev. 3.19-21.  Thus, Jesus is knocking to come into our lives that He might wash us from our sins

     CONCL.:  The chorus focuses our attention on the need to be washed from our sins.  Those who are outside of Christ need to obey the gospel and Christians who sin need to confess their sins to God in order that they might be made "Whiter Than Snow."