Although certain English translations of this cantata's text adopt a moralistic tone and render the opening line as "What God ordains is right," the German words imply that God gives comfort through his actions. The music rejoices in that thought.

This chorale cantata is scored for a four-part chorus, two solo violins and viola with a basso continuo part played by organ and string bass. The top three voices are usually doubled by two oboes and an oboe da caccia, with a bassoon recommended by the original extant sources to double the string bass of the continuo part. With this small ensemble, Bach achieves remarkable timbral and melodic variety.

The fluid and lyrical style here was developed by Bach from contemporary Italian practice. The four-part counterpoint frees the music from the denser clustering of the middle voices that characterized the composer's earlier five-part writing, and creates space for the instruments to weave their beautifully inflected lines. In the opening coro (Choral), the instruments seem to evoke rather than accompany the voices. The total effect is as if the singers, moving in sustained durations twice as slow as the instruments, were expressing awe upon hearing the gentle mix of simple joy with a hint of pathos that fills the air.

Each line of the text is presented in isolation like a breath. The hymn is presented here in triple meter, unlike the duple meter of cantata Nos. 99 and 100 which employ the same text and melody. The use of triple meter produces a buoyancy and overall pastoral feeling.

Bach keeps special expressive devices in reserve until the moment they are needed: he waits for the thought that "God helps the one in need," and then, for the first and only time, modulates by daring, "troubled" chromatics before immediately returning to the prevailing mood.

The second section, a wide-ranging recitativo for tenor cast in the relative minor key, presents at first the entreaties and beseeching of a troubled soul: "O God, when will I for once be rescued from my fear and agony? How long shall I cry for help day and night?" Several effective dissonances are used here, such as major seventh leaps and accented non-harmonic tones with a biting edge (e.g., C sharp against a G minor chord). The singer ends by expressing confidence that God does not abandon his own.

The aria for soprano, oboe, and continuo expresses further reassurance. The vocalist and oboe engage in appealing, closely overlapping counterpoint of remarkable compositional skill and lyricism.

The next recitativo for alto speaks of God's boundless love, and unfolds a more intimate melodic line.

The concluding aria for bass, violins, and continuo expresses loyalty to God and confidence that He will "shield me from all unknown evil." The unison violins continuously wind elaborate lines and fanfare-like phrases hanging in an angelic treble above the singer.

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