Blest Be the Tie That Binds

John Fawcett was born in England, near Yorkshire, in 1739.  Orphaned at the age of twelve, he apprenticed under a tailor.  As a sixteen-year-old young man, he came to faith under the preaching of George Whitfield.  After a few years as a Methodist, he became a Baptist and felt God’s call to preach. 

Largely self-educated, he became the pastor of a Baptist church in a little town called Wainsgate in 1765.  For seven years he stayed with that little congregation and the miniscule salary they could afford to pay him.  With a growing family and a small salary, it made sense to move when a call came from a much larger Baptist church in London. 

Moving day came.  Men, women, and children of the little congregation helped the young family pack and load crates onto wagons.  Noticing the tears and the grief of the parishioners at losing their beloved pastor John’s wife pulled him to the side and told him, “I cannot bear to leave.  How can we go?”  John confessed to her that he had the same feelings.  Abruptly, he told the men to unload the wagons.

John ministered to the little church in Wainsgate for 54 years, until his death in 1817.  The little congregation never could afford to pay him more than the equivalent of $200 per year, a salary he had to supplement with teaching.  Nevertheless, John Fawcett’s love for his flock compelled him to sacrifice the more prestigious pulpit and stay.  Taking up writing, John published many hymns, volumes of poetry, and theological works.  John often wrote special songs for his congregation, meant to be sung after the sermon as a closing to their time of worship and fellowship together.  The most famous of these was written after his decision to stay at Wainsgate:

Blest be the tie that binds; Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne; We pour our ardent prayers;

Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one; Our comforts and our cares.

When we asunder part; It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart; And hope to meet again.

https://hymnary.org/person/Fawcett_John1740

https://web.archive.org/web/20090213115457/http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2008/002/12.11.html

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/nutter/hymnwriters.FawcettJ.html

Got Be With You Til' We Meet Again

The hymn “God Be With You Til’ We Meet Again” was written by Rev Jeremiah Rankin in 1880, pastor of Washington DC’s First Congregational Church and President of Howard University.  He wrote it after discovering that the term “good-bye” meant “God be with you.”

On September 19^th, 1945, Darlene Deibler was liberated from a Japanese prison camp – just a few days after Japan signed their surrender aboard the USS Missouri.  Eight years before, she and her new husband had landed in New Guinea along with a mentor, Dr Robert Jaffray as missionaries.  Now, both her husband and her mentor were dead and Darlene, a 28-year-old widow, was returning home without a single thing to her name.

In prison, she had suffered in indescribable ways, both mentally and physically.  She had suffered from exhaustion, starvation, malaria, beriberi, and dysentery.  She had witnessed death on a horrible scale.  During this time, not one letter or package had reached her.  She wrote that as she departed, she prayed a bitter prayer, “Lord, I’ll never come to these islands again.  They’ve robbed me of everything that was most dear to me.”

Suddenly, she heard voices being raised in the distance.  On the shore were a large number of believers, most of whom had come to know Jesus through their mission.  They were singing, “God be with you til’ we meet again.  By His counsels guide, uphold you.  With His sheep securely fold you.  God be with you til’ we meet again.”

In her autobiography Evidence Not Seen she wrote, “This song released the waters of bitterness that had flooded my soul, and the hurt began to drain from me as my tears flowed in a steady stream.  The healing had begun.  I knew then that some day, God only knew when, I would come back to these people and my island home.”

God be with you til’ we meet again; By His counsels guide, uphold you.

With His sheep securely fold you; God be with you til’ we meet again.

Til’ we meet, til’ we meet, Til’ we meet at Jesus feet,

Til’ we meet, til’ we meet.  God be with you til’ we meet again.

God be with you til’ we meet again; ‘Neath His wings protecting hide you.

Daily manna still provide you; God be with you til’ we meet again.

God be with you til’ we meet again; Keep love’s banner floating o’er you.

Smite death’s threatening wave before you; God be with you til’ we meet again.

God be with you til’ we meet again; When life’s perils thick confound you.

Put His arms unfailing ‘round you; God be with you til’ we meet again.

Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.