God Be With You Till We Meet Again

God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Chorus:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
‘Neath His wings securely hide you,
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you,
Put His arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
Smite death’s threatening wave before you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Written by Dr. Jeremiah Rankin in the 1800’s, this particular hymn, along with “Blest be the tie that binds” have become well-known benediction songs, and were extremely popular in the Moody/Sankey revivals.  Dr. Rankin was a prominent pastor of churches in the East Coast of the United States until 1889.  At that point, he left the pastorate to become president of Howard University in Washington DC.  (Oh that our schools of higher learning today would find Christian leaders and pastors to lead their institutions).  Dr. Rankin was a tremendous fan of congregational singing and wrote both poetry and hymns.  This particular hymn is one of his more famous ones.  I do agree that it is a great song to close a worship service with, but ultimately the message of this song is not about seeing each other at the next Sunday service.  No, the song is about the meeting of Christians in heaven to worship at Christ’s feet one day.  That day will be a great reunion day and I personally am looking forward to seeing my friends and loved ones that have gone home to be with the Lord.  But more importantly, our goal will not be just to have a “family reunion”, but our primary purpose will be to worship at the feet of the One who made that reunion possible.

I wanted to highlight a few “actions” that God undertakes, or things He promises to do, in our Christian walk that are found in the lyrics of this song, and which are supported by Scripture:

• Uphold you – Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
• Fold you – Ezekiel 34:14 “I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.”
• Hide you – Psalms 27:5 “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.”
• Provide you – Job 24:23 “He provides them with security, and they are supported; And His eyes are on their ways.”

“So long.  Farewell.  Auf Weidersehen.  Good-bye.  Adieu.  Adieu.  To you and you and you.”  You will probably remember this song from the musical “The Sound of Music.”  It is interesting that we have so many ways to say good-bye to one another – in foreign languages and in everyday speech.  In our modern culture, we also say things like “See ya later.  TTYL.  Peace out” and so on.  But do you know where the phrase “Good-bye” comes from?  It is a shortened form of “God be with you.”  The more I thought about this particular word, the sadder I got.  I asked myself – How did we allow a phrase like “God be with you” to be removed of it’s true meaning, and be shortened to “Good-bye?”  I wondered.  Can we, as Christians, take back this phrase?  Can we purpose in our hearts to no longer say “Good bye” but to say “God be with you?”  Could we impact the world by this little change in our speech, and open the door to share God’s love?  

So, I challenge you to consider making this change in your vocabulary – remove “Good bye.”  And if by Providence, God opens the door to share His love with someone through a simple “God be with you,” smile like the Von Trapp children singing their songs, and know that you have made a difference in someone’s life. 

If you are not familiar with this hymn, I think you will enjoy this youtube link.  This hymn is sung by the group Selah, and is married with some touching pictures of “Good bye’s”, I mean, “God be with you’s.”