Instead of a closing chorale, Bach combines this idea, sung by the bass, with the seventh stanza of Philipp Nicolai's mystical wedding song "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern", given to the soprano.

[2] Bach structured the cantata six movements and scored it for soprano and bass soloists, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, violoncello piccolo, organ and basso continuo.

It incorporates a chorale, stanza 7 of Nicolai's hymn, ending with the line "Deiner wart ich mit Verlangen" (I wait for Thee with longing),[1] while the bass responds: "I have always loved you, and so I draw you to me.

[6] Hofmann notes that the figuration of the organ expresses in sound what the cantus firmus words: "Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh!"

)[1][4] Musicologist Julian Mincham suggests that this cantata "exudes a greater degree of personal intensity" than the previous two for this day, BWV 162 and 180.