[5] The work is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, flute, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.

[8][10] The da capo aria includes a sharply contrasting middle section, "an ecstatic alla breve dance of joy, part gavotte, part gigue", built on a motif of "agile chains of triplets" forming a "mellifluous melody".

John Eliot Gardiner suggests that this movement includes "music pre-echoes of both Gluck and Brahms" and "something authentically Levantine or even Basque in origin".

[9] Craig Smith notes that this is "the closest Bach gets to South German rococo architecture.

The movement emphasizes the interval of the seventh and the technique of inversion to support the meaning of the text.

[6] The tenor recitative reverses the motion of the bass, modulating from minor to major and changing the emphasis of the text from humility to celebration.