History of the term "Godspeed"

My family has a history of abuse of the English language. I became aware especially in my college years that our pronunciation was slightly off or that our usage was mistaken. To some extent, I think that is natural to local dialect. Where I live now, once is pronounced with a t at the end, which i can't even spell; ambulance is sometimes pronounced am-boo-lance; and regular is sometimes pronounced re-goo-lar.

At any rate, my self awareness actually increased my curiousity about the English language, which is why today I looked up the term Godspeed.  Why do people say that in order to wish each other well?

Wiktionary claims it comes from the Middle English phrase "God speed you," translated "May God help you prosper." It traces the term back to the Old Testament, Genesis 24:12, when a servant of Abraham set out to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac. The term speed in this context meant "to encounter." The servant therefore was asking God to send him a good encounter.

Later, Godspeed became the name of one of three ships whose passengers are responsible for "founding the first permanent English settlement in North America," in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 or so, according to Wikipedia. Perhaps that is primarily why we still use the term today.