About Abba Father

Abba Father is a soulful Gospel Blues song by Malachi Ben-David that takes the ache of feeling abandoned by God and answers it one divine name at a time. Rooted in blues gospel music and the names of God worship tradition El Roi, Yahweh Rapha, El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh it's a scripture-rooted Christian song for anyone who has ever whispered "God, where are You?" in the midnight hour and needed the answer to come back slow, honest, and sure.

Lyrics for Abba Father

ABBA FATHER Malachi Ben-David

El Roi God who sees me in this midnight hour, I'm crushed like David in the cave, stripped of every power. How long will You, Yahweh will You forget Your own? Tears carve canyons through my soul; I'm utterly alone. Naomi's bitterness rises: "Adonai has dealt so hard empty arms, empty future, Lord. Have I been scarred?"

Beloved, I am El Roi I never miss a tear you cry. Yahweh Rapha hovers close, ready to heal and dry. The Lord draws near the brokenhearted; El Shaddai lifts the crushed. Before your whisper forms, Jehovah Jireh has rushed. Immanuel I am with you, right here in the fray.

Hagar, the arrows burn like Job's endless night of pain. Elijah beneath the broom tree: "I alone remain." Jeremiah cries, "Oh Yahweh, You deceived my heart." Moses begs release from burdens tearing him apart. Gideon questions El Elyon: "If sovereign, why this chain?" Joseph in the dungeon, forgotten, lost again.

I am Jehovah Shammah the Lord who is there, never gone. Yeshua bore forsakenness so you never walk alone. Jonah in the deep I, El Elohim, heard and brought him home. Asaph nearly fell, but Yahweh Roi held him strong. Habakkuk questioned chaos unveiled, My sovereign plan. Jehovah hears the righteous cry and delivers every man.

Jehovah, my scars still whisper, but I lift my eyes to see. Psalm 22 turns groan to glory You are setting me free. Why so downcast, oh my soul? Hope in Elohim, arise. Even in the waiting, You're my rock, my faithful prize.

Yes, child let every honest cry become your battle song. Jehovah Mekaddishkem sanctifies what once felt wrong. Praise rocks the darkness, draws My Shekinah glory down. Sar Shalom, Prince of Peace, crowns you with a victor's crown.

Father, the storm is raging do not hide Your face. "I am near. Roi, I see. Jehovah Rapha mends this place." I'm forsaken in the darkness — Yahweh, where's Your embrace? "I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you." Adonai speaks through every flame; Jehovah Nissi waves victory, calling out my name. Be strong, fear not El Gibbor goes before your way. From deepest night to breaking dawn, your deliverance is today.

Now I see You were El Roi, watching through my every tear. Now I awake Yahweh Rapha healed, with death held near. Now I dance Adonai turned mourning into joyful cheer. Now I rise Yahweh Roi led me out of fear. I will yet praise You, my Savior and my God.

Awakened, delivered from the pit to the sky. Chains shattered, spirits soaring, every shadow flying. Near to the brokenhearted, saving the crushed in spirit. Never forsaken, forever awakened. El Olam, eternal Abba Father, Abba Father, I see You clearly now. I am Your son. I am free. Now I dance, I live, I praise, I trust always and forever.

Behind the Song

Everyone knows the prayers that go unanswered. Fewer people talk about the silence that comes after the stretch where you've prayed, waited, and heard nothing, and you start to wonder if you were ever heard at all. Abba Father was built to live in that silence instead of rushing past it.

That's why the song opens where it does not in praise, but in the cave. "El Roi God who sees me in this midnight hour, I'm crushed like David in the cave, stripped of every power." The blues underneath the first verses isn't decoration; it's the sound of that exact ache. Before there's any resolution, the song lets the abandonment be real, the way David let it be real in the Psalms and the way Naomi did when she said, "call me Mara."

The structure is simple but deliberate: every cry gets a name. Where there's fear of being unseen, El Roi answers the God who sees. Where there's a wound, Yahweh Rapha, the God who heals. Where the burden is crushing, El Shaddai, God Almighty who lifts the crushed. Where there's lack, Jehovah Jireh, who provides before the whisper even forms. The song walks straight through Scripture's most forsaken people Hagar in the wilderness, Job in his endless night, Elijah under the broom tree, Joseph forgotten in the dungeon, Jonah in the deep and hands each one a name of God to hold onto.

Then it does the thing the whole song has been building toward. It stops naming God from a distance and gets personal. The distant titles Almighty, Most High, Everlasting collapse into the closest word a person can say to God: Abba. Father. The cry that started as "where are You?" ends as "I am Your son. I am free." That turn is the entire point. The names of God aren't a theology lesson; they're the evidence that you were being watched over the whole time you thought you were alone.

Biblical Background

The name "Abba, Father" comes from Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, where Paul writes that believers have received "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "Abba" is an Aramaic word of deep intimacy the trusting cry of a child to a father. Paul's point is staggering: the God of the universe is not a distant force but a Father a broken person can climb toward and call by name.

The song threads that intimacy through the many Hebrew names and titles of God found across Scripture, each revealing a different facet of His character. El Roi, "the God who sees me," is spoken by Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis 16:13). Yahweh Rapha, "the LORD that healeth thee," comes from Exodus 15:26. El Shaddai, "God Almighty," appears in Genesis 17:1. Jehovah Jireh, "the LORD will provide," is named by Abraham in Genesis 22:14. Jehovah Shammah, "the LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35), and Jehovah Nissi, "the LORD my banner" (Exodus 17:15), round out a portrait of a God who is present, providing, and fighting for His people.

Woven under all of it is the promise of Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" and the moment on the cross when Christ Himself cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). He bore that forsakenness so that no one who calls on Him ever has to be truly forsaken again.

Scripture References (KJV, in song order)

• Genesis 16:13 — El Roi, "the God who sees me" (Hagar names Him)

• Psalm 142:1–2 — David crushed in the cave

• Psalm 13:1 — "How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD?"

• Ruth 1:20–21 — Naomi's bitterness: "call me Mara… the Almighty hath dealt bitterly"

• Psalm 56:8 — God keeps every tear in His bottle

• Exodus 15:26 — Yahweh Rapha, "the LORD that healeth thee"

• Psalm 34:18 — "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart"

• Genesis 17:1 — El Shaddai, God Almighty

• Genesis 22:14 — Jehovah Jireh, "the LORD will provide"

• Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23 — Immanuel, "God with us"

• Genesis 21:16–17 — Hagar and the child, the arrows of despair

• Job 7:3–4 — Job's "wearisome nights" of pain

• 1 Kings 19:4 — Elijah under the broom tree: "It is enough… take away my life"

• Jeremiah 20:7 — "O LORD, thou hast deceived me"

• Numbers 11:14–15 — Moses begging release from his burden

• Judges 6:13 — Gideon: "if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?"

• Genesis 40:23 — Joseph forgotten in the dungeon

• Genesis 14:18–20 — El Elyon, God Most High

• Ezekiel 48:35 — Jehovah Shammah, "the LORD is there"

• Matthew 27:46 — Yeshua bore forsakenness: "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

• Jonah 2:1–2 — Jonah cries from the deep and is heard

• Psalm 73:2, 23 — Asaph nearly fell, yet held by God

• Habakkuk 1:2–3 — Habakkuk questions the chaos

• Psalm 34:17 — "The righteous cry, and the LORD… delivereth them"

• Psalm 22:1, 24 — groan turned to glory

• Psalm 42:5, 11 — "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? hope thou in God"

• Psalm 18:2 — "The LORD is my rock"

• Leviticus 20:8 / Exodus 31:13 — Jehovah Mekaddishkem, "the LORD which sanctify you"

• Isaiah 9:6 — Sar Shalom, Prince of Peace / El Gibbor, the Mighty God

• Psalm 27:9 — "Hide not thy face far from me"

• Exodus 17:15 — Jehovah Nissi, "the LORD my banner"

• Hebrews 13:5 / Deuteronomy 31:6 — "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"

• Psalm 23:1 — Yahweh Roi, "The LORD is my shepherd"

• Psalm 30:11 — "thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing"

• Psalm 40:2 — "He brought me up… out of the miry clay" (the pit)

• Genesis 21:33 — El Olam, "the everlasting God"

• Romans 8:15 / Galatians 4:6 — "Abba, Father" — the cry of adopted sons

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the song "Abba Father" about? "Abba Father" is a Gospel Blues song that moves through the Hebrew names of God El Roi, Yahweh Rapha, El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh, and more to answer the feeling of being abandoned by God. It turns a cry of despair into the intimate cry of a son: "Abba, Father."

What does El Roi mean? El Roi means "the God who sees me." It comes from Genesis 16:13, where Hagar, alone and desperate in the wilderness, names God as the One who saw her. The song opens with El Roi to establish that God sees you even in your midnight hour.

What are the names of God used in "Abba Father"? The song features El Roi (God who sees), Yahweh Rapha (the Lord who heals), El Shaddai (God Almighty), Jehovah Jireh (the Lord provides), Immanuel (God with us), Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is there), El Elyon (God Most High), Jehovah Nissi (the Lord my banner), El Gibbor (Mighty God), Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace), El Olam (the everlasting God), and Abba Father.

Is "Abba Father" based on the Bible? Yes. Every verse is anchored in KJV Scripture, from Genesis 16:13 through Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. The full scripture list is included on this page in song order.

What genre is "Abba Father"? "Abba Father" is Gospel Blues a soulful, slow-burning sound that carries the weight of the lyrics before lifting into hope.

Where can I listen to "Abba Father"? You can stream "Abba Father" on Spotify, Apple Music, and Audiomack, watch the lyric video on YouTube, or use the song in your own videos through the Facebook, Instagram & Threads Music Library and as a TikTok Sound.