Composed for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, which fell on July 5, 1724,

Bach's Cantata No. 93 "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten" (Who leaves the loving God to guide him) (BWV 93) sets a chorale hymn by Georg Neumark in its first, fourth, and seventh movements; extends the hymn through poetic extrapolation by an anonymous poet in the second and fifth verses; and interpolates two additional anonymous verses for the third and sixth. The resulting cantata is an expansive musical sermon on the Gospel According to Luke 5, 1-11, scored for bass, tenor, alto and soprano soloists, chorus, a pair of oboes, strings, and basso continuo. "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten" is in C minor with its first, fourth, and seventh movements in the tonic;, its second movement in subdominant F minor; its third in the relative major of E flat major; and its fifth and sixth movements in the dominant of G minor. The first movement is an enormous chorale fantasia with the orchestra pursuing one set of musical motifs while the choral sopranos intone Neumark's chorale and the lower voices add imitative counterpoint. The second movement is a secco recitative for bass and continuo alternating Adagio and reiterative elements. The third movement is a da capo tenor aria in triple time accompanied by strings and continuo. The fourth movement is a duet aria for soprano and alto with unison upper strings intoning the chorale tune over the continuo. The fifth movement is a violently agitated recitative for tenor and continuo which, like the second movement, alternates between tempos, and in this case, between Adagio, Allegro, Andante, and recitative. The sixth movement is a sprightly aria in the form of a trio sonata for oboe, soprano, and continuo. "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten" concludes with a harmonization of the final verse of Neumark's chorale for the entire chorus and orchestra.

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