O Lord, I would delight in thee

O Lord, I would delight in thee. John Ryland* (1753- 1825).  This hymn has a date at the end, ‘Dec 3, 1777’.  It must have been known soon afterwards, for it was in John Rippon*’s  Selection of Hymns* (1787). It was, as JJ notes, ‘in extensive use in its original, or an abbreviated form’ (p. 983). In many books it was referenced to Psalm 37: 4: ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’  This hymn was included in Hymns and Verses on Sacred Subjects, by the late Rev. John Ryland, D.D., of Bristol (1862). This may be the volume referred to in JJ, p. 983, as ‘Sedgwick’s reprint’. It has a note from the original manuscript, ‘I recollect deeper...