The chorale Buxtehude sets in this prelude was originally published with the description, "A nice new chorale to sing when one wakes up in the morning." The first verse of the chorale reads as follows, "I thank thee, dear Lord, that you have protected me through this night, when I slept so roughly surrounded by darkness, and in earnest pain, I managed to get through it all because you helped me Lord God."

Buxtehude's setting is somewhat unusual. Not only does the piece include two time signature changes, it also includes several marked tempo changes shifting the tempo back and forth between lento and allegro. This piece is a chorale fantasy, and the chorale melody gets tossed around from voice to voice. Sometimes he uses chunks of the chorale melody as point for imitation, sometimes a chunk of the melody will simply appear in once voice or another.

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