Cantata 52, premiered on November 24, 1726 (23rd Sunday after Trinity), has much in common with No. 55 of the previous week. Both have libretti by Christoph Birkmann, the young theologian from Leipzig. The librettos are constructed from the perspective of the first person, and Bach assigns the entire cantata to a single solo voice, in this case, the soprano.

The gospel of the day (Matthew 22: 15-22), which refers to the story of the Pharisees asking Jesus a “trick question” about the tribute to Caesar, is picked up by the libretto, which proposes an antithesis between the rejection of the world (the first two stanzas) and the fidelity of God (the last two).

The cantata opens with a Sinfonia, for which Bach reused the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, without the “violino piccolo”.

Next, a “secco” recitative uses extremely intense and theatrical terms to express rejection of the world, alluding to another episode of betrayal narrated in the Old Testament. An animated aria follows with two solo violins, who like the soprano use short, abrupt motifs to illustrate this detachment from the world.

The next couple of movements establish a sudden change of tone from the preceding text, referring to God’s fidelity and the trust that the Christian places in Him. A recitative that includes an arioso passage on the words “Gott ist getreu” (“God is faithful”), gives rise to a celebratory aria with 3 oboes accompanying the soprano, who declares her faith in God and how it allows her to overcome the “lying tongues” of the world.

The cantata closes with a chorale with text by Adam Reusner (1533) with the orchestra doubling the voices, with the exception of the 2nd horn which has an independent part.