From beginning to end, the lyrics of this song were 99% completed in about an hour. The music took me four years.
My grandfather, Howard Eldridge, was a huge influence in my life. I’m a pharmacist because he was. My family means everything to me because it meant everything to him. I scoop up the little children in my life and throw them into the air because he did the same with me. Grandpa passed away in November 2021, and that day, I sat down and wrote the lyrics to In Pure White Robes.
The imagery in the book of Revelation is undeniably powerful, and one of my favorite visions comes from chapter 19, verse 14: “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” It may have been around 2009, after my Aunt Rhonda (Howard’s eldest daughter) passed away, that this imagery became a spiritual fixture in my mind. Aunt Rhonda may have lost an earthly battle to cancer, but she gained an eternal victory in Jesus Christ. Now she lives forever – a soldier in His eternal army – following Him in triumph, clothed in pure white robes and riding on a white horse. As an aside, every time I hear the final refrain of the Olympic Fanfare by John Williams, this is exactly what I imagine. I hear the snare drum lead the charge, my chest tightens, and I well up with tears. Now, my Grandpa Howard and Grandma Betty are part of that grand, victorious army as well, and to me, members of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1).
As I said, the lyrics remained largely unchanged from the original draft, except for a fourth verse that I chose to omit. It was the music that I held back. Earlier in my (short) songwriting career, I was so eager to share my work that I did so quickly, only to later regret small details I wished I could change. But once a song is released, it’s set, and I’m not a fan of multiple versions floating around unnecessarily. So I worked on this one over time, setting it aside and returning with fresh eyes again and again, until the rhythm of the bass and tenor lines in the chorus came to me in the fall of 2025. I knew then the song had become what I wanted it to be, and I released it on my album a couple of weeks later.
In Pure White Robes is a song of triumph. It point us to where those who have left our earthly ranks have gone and gives us the anticipation to join them – marching through the gates of heaven, gathering beneath the perfect shade of the Tree of Life, and offering unending praise to our God who has given us the victory in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
“Praise God! Praise God! For the dead in Christ now live! Praise God! Amen! Amen!”
While this hymn is protected by United States copyright, I have made it free and publicly available for private and congregational use (not for profit).