Jeremiah Eames Rankin was born January 2, 1828, in Thornton, New Hampshire; he received his early musical training in singing schools and in the village choir. He began teaching when he was 17 years old and later went to the Andover Theological Seminary to train for the ministry. Ordained as a minister of the Congregational church in 1855, he ministered in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey. He died November 28, 1904, in Cleveland, Ohio. During the Civil War he was on the staff of General Howard and was later a government employee in Washington, D.C. While he was pastor of the First Congregational church at Tenth and G streets in Washington, D.C., he had several government officials in his congregation. Such officials were frequently moved, and as a consequence, many goodbyes had to be said. In 1880 Rankin wrote the first stanza of this hymn as an etymological composition of the word goodbye, which is simply an abbreviation of the blessing “God be with you.” The apostle Paul closes many of his Epistle with a similar greeting: “The God of love and peace shall be with you” (2nd Cor. 13:11), although on most occasions he mentions the Lord Jesus Christ rather than God. Rankin was appointed president of Howard University in 1889.

In order to obtain a suitable tune for this poem, he sent it to two friends. One was a well-known composer; the other, a schoolmaster and amateur musician, William Gould Tomer, who was born October 5, 1833, in New Jersey and died September 26, 1896, in the same state. Tomer had served in the infantry in the Civil War and 20 years in government employ. At the time he wrote this tune he was director of music at the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. His tune was preferred, which stimulated Rankin to write three more stanzas. The tune was later revised by the organist of Rankin’s church, John W. Bischoff (1849-1909). It is somewhat in the form of a chant, as the same chord is used for several successive syllables. Bischoff, who was blind, was choir director of the church for 35 years; he also composed the unnamed tune for SDAH 515, “The Lord Is My Light.”