2 John 3
The hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, which was written by Jeremiah Rankin, was composed so his church choir could have something to sing when they parted each week. Rankin said this about the hymn, “Written…as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on basis of the etymology of “goodbye,” which is “God be with you.” He got the idea for the first stanza of the song when he saw the dictionary definition of “good-bye” was short for “God be with you.”
The first known use of the word “goodbye” was recorded in 1573 in a letter by English writer and scholar, Gabriel Harvey, which reads: “To requite your gallonde [gallon] of godbwyes, I regive you a pottle of howdyes.”” “Godbwye” is a contraction of the phrase “God be with ye.” The phrase was shortened and altered over centuries into “Godbwye,” “God b’ye,” and eventually “goodbye,” with “good” replacing “God” due to influence from “good day” and “good evening”.
Historically, before times of modern communication, it was often uncertain when or if you would see someone again, making this parting blessing very significant. They were commending someone into God’s keeping until they met again.
In September, 1945, Darlene Deibler was liberated from a Japanese Prison camp after years of physical and mental torture. She and her husband had arrived eight years before as missionaries to New Guinea, but she was now leaving alone. While praying to God as the boat sailed away that she would never come back to the place that stole everything from her, many of those that had been reached through their missionary effort had come to say goodbye and were singing God Be With You Till We Meet Again. She wrote later that this song and sentiment were what allowed her to begin healing from the experience.
As Christians, this song is a prayer of protection and care for each one of us until we have the blessing of meeting again in paradise. Its a prayer that God will guide us, keep us, provide for us, wrap us in His arms, and bring us home. James reminds us He will do so for those who have turned to Him (Jas. 4:8), who have come to Him in repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38).
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