Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. It is part of his third cantata cycle. The prescribed readings for the Sunday are from the Epistle to the Romans, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God", and from the Gospel of Matthew, the warning of false prophets from the Sermon on the Mount. Here and in Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden, BWV 88, composed three weeks before, the text is similar in structure and content to cantatas of Johann Ludwig Bach. The text is attributed to Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, published in a 1705 collection. The poet chose for the opening a verse of the prophetMicah, "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?", which is related to the famous saying of Jesus "Ye shall know them by their fruits", and "but he that doeth the will of my Father" from the Gospel. The poet connected to the image of the servant as mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, and. The central movement, opening the second part to be performed after the sermon, is a quotation of verse 22 from the Gospel, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?". The following aria is a paraphrase of . The cantata is closed by the second stanza of Johann Heermann's hymn "O Gott, du frommer Gott". The cantata is a symmetrical structure around the central Gospel quotation, beginning with the Old Testament and leading to the chorale. Bach first performed the cantata on 11 August 1726.
Recitative : Der Höchste läßt mich seinen Willen wissen
Aria : Weiß ich Gottes Rechte
Arioso : Es werden viele zu mir sagen an jenem Tage
Aria : Wer Gott bekennt aus wahrem Herzensgrund
Recitative : So wird denn Herz und Mund selbst von mir Richter sein
Chorale: Gib, daß ich tu mit Fleiß
Music
The opening chorus is a complex structure, beginning with an extended instrumental section, then alternating fugal sections with others in which the vocal parts are embedded in the orchestral concerto. Both recitatives are secco. The tenor aria is accompanied by the strings in dance-like character. The central movement, the quotation from the Gospel, is given to the bass as the vox Christi. Bach marks it Arioso and has the strings play in vivid movement, to passionately emphasize the words. The strings open the movement and repeat that music four times in different keys, the bass part shows bold leaps and rich coloraturas. John Eliot Gardiner observes: The figuration is similar in the following alto aria, but mellow in the solo flute with continuo, matching the consoling words. The closing chorale on a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch is set in four parts.
