Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Es wartet alles auf dich (Everything waits for You),[1] BWV 187 in Leipzig for the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 4 August 1726.

Bach began to compose cantatas on texts in this format on the first Sunday after Trinity in 1726, with Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39.

The cantata is closed by stanzas 4 and 6 of Hans Vogel's hymn "Singen wir aus Herzensgrund" (1563).

Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble: two oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo (Bc).

The opening chorus is a setting of psalm verses, "Es wartet alles auf dich, daß du ihnen Speise gebest zu seiner Zeit."

The following subjunctive (conditional form) underlines that God does this by grace, totally undeserved by the recipient.

Bach achieves a unity of form, but at the same time an individual handling of the four ideas of the text, as in a motet.

[3] The alto voice is accompanied by the full orchestra in a dance-rhythm with irregular grouping of measures in the ritornellos.

[3] The fourth and central movement sets the biblical words "Darum sollt ihr nicht sorgen noch sagen: Was werden wir essen, was werden wir trinken" (Therefore, do not be anxious, saying: "What will we eat, what will we drink),[1] from the Sermon on the Mount.

Bach gives them to the bass as the vox Christi (voice of Christ), accompanied by the violins in unison and the continuo, which also takes part in their motifs.

[9] The soprano aria, "Gott versorget alles Leben" (God takes care of every life),[1] is in two contrasting parts.

In the recitative "Halt ich nur fest an ihm mit kindlichem Vertrauen" (If I can only hold onto Him with childlike trust),[1] the last words of the soprano are enriched by the strings, like the vox Christi in Bach's St Matthew Passion.

The fourth stanza, "Gott hat die Erde zugericht'" (God has provided for the earth) relates to the beginning, God as the Creator, while the sixth stanza, "Wir danken sehr und bitten ihn, daß er uns geb des Geistes Sinn, daß wir solches recht verstehn" (We thank profoundly and pray to Him that He give us the will of His Spirit, that we understand it rightly), expresses thanksgiving,[3] ending on the Latin word "Gratias".

In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, it appeared in volume I/18 in 1966, edited by Leo Treitler, followed by a critical report in 1967.

Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performance are shown with green background.