In this cantata Buxtehude sets the text of Psalm 103 verses 1-5. The work is scored for tenor and a relatively large string ensemble of three violins, two violas, and continuo. The strings avoid doubling the tenor or the continuo line so that when all parts are sounding Buxtehude creates a seven voice texture. The work is a true sacred concerto, it employs a prosaic Biblical text, it consists of numerous contrasting small sections, and Buxtehude pays careful attention to creating music that highlights images embedded in the text. For instance on the word sin, Buxtehude writes an awkward passage that places an accent on the unstressed part of the word Sünde (sin) at a position in the measure that would normally go un-accented and writes in a rest on the following strong beat. In this way he creates a sort of musical transgression in portraying the word sin. Also at another point in the piece the word disease is set with a particularly thorny uncomfortable line. Other parts of the text get a similar treatment. This sort of text related writing was all part of the style in the 17th century sacred concerto, with its roots in the concerti coming out of Italy in the early part of the century, as well as in the works of Heinrich Schütz.

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