Sir Edward Denny, 4th Baronet

Sir Edward Denny, 4th Baronet, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, hymn writer, prophetic writer, and prominent early associate of the Plymouth Brethren. He was born on October 2, 1796; modern sources differ over whether his birthplace should be given as Dublin or Tralee Castle in County Kerry. He served as High Sheriff of Kerry in 1827 and succeeded his father as fourth baronet in 1831. Although he possessed substantial property in and around Tralee, he spent much of his later life in England and was closely associated with Brethren leaders including John Nelson Darby, John Gifford Bellett, and George Vicesimus Wigram.

Denny took a strong interest in biblical prophecy and participated in the Powerscourt conferences. His hymn collections include A Selection of Hymns, published in 1839, and Hymns and Poems, published in 1848 and later revised. His texts frequently dwell on Christ's atoning work, the Lord's Supper, pilgrimage, the church's heavenly hope, and the return of Christ. He was notably opposed to editors altering or abridging hymns without permission.

The Communion hymn represented here first appeared in 1839 with the opening Sweet feast of love divine and six stanzas. The later Blest feast form became especially common in American hymnals, often in a shortened three-stanza version.