Does The Immutable God Regret?

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night. (1 Samuel 15:10-11 NASB)

As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.  So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." (1 Samuel 15:27-29 NASB)

Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. (1 Samuel 15:35 NASB)

One of the peculiar things about the story of Saul in the Bible is that while Israel asks for a king, it is God who chooses Saul, not the people.  I find it difficult to believe that God would choose an inferior product, one that had no chance of success.  But there are qualities of God that make this questionable.

For instance, I believe Scripture teaches that God is Master of time (Rev 22:13, Psa 90:4, 2 Pe 3:8, Isa 44:7) and He is Master of all knowledge (Isa 40:13,28, 55:8-9).  So, if He is Master of time and knowledge, then He would know that Saul would fail even before He chose him to be king.  He chose him anyway.

But there is a difference between choosing someone in order for them to fail, and choosing someone who you believe will fail.  I choose to believe that God chose Saul knowing he would fail, but also that Saul had the capacity to succeed.  He knew where Saul's choices would lead, but He chose him anyway.

But there is another quality of God known as immutability.  It means that He doesn't change (see 1 Sam 15:29 above, Psa 55:19, 110:4, Mal 3:6).  But there is a problem with human understanding of this quality.  For instance, if God cannot change, He has limited power.  Something external to Him would have power over Him if He could not change.  That is unacceptable so I go with He chooses not to change.  But is that always true?

In this chapter is an excellent example of when this may not be the case.  It seems that the unchangeable God changes, and changes His mind.  There is a contrast (contradiction?) inherent in the presentation as well.  If you read the three passages above there is a consistent word used but it is translated differently.  In verse 11, it is translated as "regret", in verse 29 it is translated as "change His mind", and in verse 35 it is translated again as "regret".  They are the same word, but in two cases (translated as 'regret') God does do this, and the third case (translated as 'change His mind') He does not do this.  So which is it?

Well, consider that the two positives refer to God's regret over His choice of Saul as king.  The one negative refers to God's rejection of Saul as king.  Unfortunately we can't simply select the 'negative' option and say that God never regrets rejection or punishment.  We have times in Jeremiah where God clearly says that's not the case.

I suppose that I have to rest in faith that my Master changes whatever decision He wants whenever He wants for whatever reason.  And that my Master chooses to not change whatever decision He makes for whatever reason.  It sounds like my Master is capricious, random, whimsical, and unreliable.  But those terms only mean that we don't understand the reasoning behind something.  Even when we use these terms with people this is true.

So, going back to His mastery of knowledge, I believe that as His thoughts are higher than mine, I can trust that what doesn't make sense to me about His changeability makes perfect sense to Him.  What I don't get about His choices He understands completely.  When things change, He's still working His purpose.  But where do I find my route, my purpose, within a 'changeable' framework of my Master's decisions?

In the family I grew up with, I was taught to 'go with the flow'.  In a sense this is the answer here as well.  I will have to let my Master be Master of all things, and simply obey, faithfully trusting that He has it all under control.  If He seems to change His mind, I will simply go with it.  It is a challenge to submission, but really should be expected that I do this, behave this way, and believe this way if He is truly my Master.  He commands me to raise my sail, and let Him take care of the wind.  If I have to tack, I'll tack; if I don't, I won't, but I'll keep the course He chooses.  Random as that may seem.

So does the Master of all knowledge regret?  Yes.  And I suspect that it has more to do with the sinful nature of His human creatures wounding His heart than that He chooses to use them.  So, will I wound the heart of my Master with disobedience, with doubt in His knowledge and power?  I certainly hope not.  Not today.  I wish not ever.  But I have less trust in myself than in my Master's knowledge and faithfulness.