The text of the four middle movements of BWV 8 is an expanded paraphrase of stanzas two to four of Neumann's hymn. The second and third stanza of the hymn form the basis of the second and third movement of the cantata, which are an aria followed by a recitative. The text of the next two movements of the cantata, again an aria followed by a recitative, draws from, and expands upon, the hymn's fourth stanza.
