V99999 God

Words: Jer­e­mi­ah E. Rank­in, in Gos­pel Bells, compiled by Rankin, J. W. Bisch­off, Otis Presb­rey (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: The West­ern Sun­day School Pub­lish­ing Co., 1880).

Written…as a Christian good-bye, it was called forth by no per­son or oc­ca­sion, but was de­lib­er­ate­ly com­posed as a Christ­ian hymn on the ba­sis of the ety­mol­o­gy of “good-bye,” which is “God be with you.” The first stan­za was writ­ten and sent to two com­pos­ers—one of un­u­su­al note, the other whol­ly un­known and not tho­rough­ly ed­u­cat­ed in mu­sic. I se­lect­ed the com­po­si­tion of the lat­ter, sub­mit­ted it to J. W. Bischoff—the mu­sic­al di­rect­or of a lit­tle book we were pre­par­ing—who ap­proved of it, but made some cri­ti­cisms, which were adopt­ed. It was sung for the first time one ev­en­ing in the First Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Wash­ing­ton, of which I was then the pas­tor and Mr. Bis­choff the org­an­ist. I at­trib­ut­ed its pop­u­lar­i­ty in no lit­tle part to the mu­sic to which it was set. It was a wed­ding of words and mu­sic, at which it was my func­tion to pre­side; but Mr. To­mer should have his full share of the fam­i­ly hon­or.
Sankey, p. 144

Music: God Be with You, Will­iam G. Tom­er, 1882 (MI­DI, score); at the time, Tom­er was mu­sic di­rect­or at the Grace Meth­od­ist Epis­co­pal Church in Wash­ing­ton, DC. Al­ter­nate tune:

• Randolph, Ralph Vaugh­an Will­iams, 1906 (MI­DI, score)

If you have ac­cess to a pho­to of Will­iam Tom­er (or a bet­ter one of Jer­e­mi­ah Rank­in) that we could put on­line, please click here.

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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.

Refrain

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 protecting hide you;
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
With the oil of joy anoint you;
Sacred ministries appoint you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Of His promises remind you;
For life’s upper garner bind you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Sicknesses and sorrows taking,
Never leaving or forsaking;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

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

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Ended when for you earth’s story,
Israel’s chariot sweep to glory;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

願主同在直到再相會，主為良師常指導你，

主為牧人常養護你，願主同在直到再相會。

　

願主同在直到再相會，主展全能羽翼護你，

主賜日用糧食養你，願主同在直到再相會。

　

願主同在直到再相會，生活危機雖侵擾你，

仁愛聖臂必衛護你，願主同在直到再相會。

　

願主同在直到再相會，愛的旌旗常率引你，

死的冷波不能傷你，願主同在直到再相會。

　

副歌

再相會，再相會，靠主恩得再相會，

再相會，再相會，願主同在直到再相會。

　

　　作者欒勤（Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1828-1904）出生在美國新罕布夏州。 1885年，神學院畢業後，由公理會按牧。 他先後出任美國東岸幾個著名的公理教會為牧師。 1899年，他出任華盛頓霍華大學Howard University 為校長。該著名的黑人高等學府是以霍華將軍命名。 

　

　　欒勤編輯過許多福音聖詩集，「再相會歌」是他最有名的聖詩。 1882年某日，他在書房查考資料作成筆記，他對「再見」的英文Farewell，Good-bye，和So long的字義細心研究。 他從使徒行傳15:29及23:30「願你們平安」（Farewell）的希臘原文發現有更廣泛的含意：「 這兩位作曲家，一位是已享盛名的音樂家，另一位是未受過音樂專業訓練的小學教員，但後者所譜的曲與詞意配合無間。欒勤聽後大喜，完成了八節十六行的詩，其中一半詞句是「願主同在直到再相會」。 今日詩集選用的是第一、二、四、七節。神使你強壯、堅定，享有健康、喜樂。」於是他寫下了這首詩的第一節，寄給二位音樂家譜曲。

　

　　默（William Gould Tomer,1833-1896）出生於德國，移居美國。 他曾在霍華將軍麾下，參加美國的南北戰爭，復員後在銀行任職。 1896年，在陶默的安息禮拜中，也用此詩歌。

　　慕迪與孫基時常在佈道會結束時唱這首詩，因而傳遍歐美，譯成多國文字。 嗣後，全世界基督徒在送別時，都愛唱此歌作為祝頌。 它也成了許多禮拜結束和基督徒會議閉幕時的祝福詩歌。 幾乎在每一本聖詩集上都有這首詩歌。