As when the deluge waves were gone

Authored by Sir John Bowring, this hymn on spiritual comfort following trial was first published in the third edition of his devotional collection Matins and Vespers (1841) in five stanzas of four lines under the title "Joy after Sorrow." Drawing upon the biblical narrative of Noah and the receding waters of the Great Flood, the text uses the imagery of subsiding deluge waves and emerging dry land to illustrate how divine mercy brings peace, hope, and renewed joy after periods of deep sorrow and distress. In 1860, the hymn was included without alteration in Elizabeth Courtauld's nonconformist collection, Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems (No. 370), maintaining a presence in nineteenth-century devotional reading and worship.