God never regrets. Never; nothing; doesn’t even ever think about it. It never in any scope of imagination crosses His mind. God does not regret. He did not suddenly think about how horrible man was behaving when he is recorded as saying “It repenteth me that I have made man” in Genesis 6:6. It did not surprise Him when Saul turned out to be the kind of king he became. He did not suddenly think about how horribly this man was behaving when He said “It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king” in 1Samuel 15:11.
Knowing all things from the beginning, God knew that in the course of human time, events would come to the point when He would make the change. The change from allowing man to continue the God rejecting path they were traveling. Knowing it would come to this moment was not a surprise. He who had the suffering of His Son on Calvary in view when He said “Let there be light” did not suddenly wake up to find His creation gone astray.
The language we use sometimes causes us a bit of a problem. Most people who are smart enough to understand what they are reading agrees with the most accepted translations of the Hebrew writings. It does not impugn the veracity of God if we do not understand how we have translated what He has written.
It does make for interesting thoughts that the same word translated “repent” in the Old Testament is just as often translated comfort. Yet I think the defining verse for our understanding is 1Samuel 15:29. The word simply means to sigh. Sometimes we sigh in sadness and sometimes in relief. We sadly sigh in sorrow when a loved saint has finally passed and crossed over to their eternal reward. Then we release a sigh of relief that their fleshly suffering has ended. Some sighs are “Huh?” or “Really?” Some sighs are “Finally” and “Yes”.
God sighs. He sighs in reflecting that man, His most blessed creation, has done exactly what He knew they would do. And He also sighed in knowing, at least there is Noah. Never did God regret creating or allowing His creation the freedom of choice. Never does He regret giving you and I the opportunity to obediently follow His loving ways.
God does not for one moment regret the love and joy and personal holy presence He has put into your life. Nor does He regret the sorrow and chastisement nor even the tragedy you have experienced. Sometimes we, as thinking, intelligent humans, judge and delineate the worth of others by words. So please, in what I say next, try not to. Our God is an awesome, Sovereign, eternally purposed Creator and Lord.
He is the final judge of the wicked and the source of wrath from which all men flee. Some flee to the cross, and some to the lies of a seducer. He knew how it was all going to turn out before He started it. That applies to every star, planet and microscopic dust particle trillions upon trillions of miles from the earth. It also applies to you, your decisions, your sin and your worship of Him. No surprises for God; no regrets. It is true that you and I have often made choices other than what God has designed and instructed us to do. It is also true that there is within the power of every person to do other than God knows they will do but they won’t. We have been given choice. When it comes to choice there is but one restriction God has placed upon man. We have been removed from Eden and the presence of the tree of life so that we might not eat of it, and live forever. God lives forever, angels live forever and the redeemed of the Lord live forever. Satan and all other demonic fallen angels die forever as does every unrepentant unredeemed human soul. Forever is a long time. It is beyond time.
He already knows what that choice is. He did not make us make that choice. He knew before He said “Let us make man…” and He knew what would be required to bring us to the place where we would own the choice we made.
For some it will be a choice regretted for eternity. For others the bliss and joy will be unending. Man can have regrets which God cannot. Man can sin and God cannot. God cannot lie, worry, or choose incorrectly. All these are capabilities which we as sinful humans can do. Man is totally capable of the worst kind of selfish blasphemy, denying God. God cannot deny Himself.
Nor will He deny those who come to Him by Christ Jesus. This is the most fascinating aspect of God’s lack of regret. He does not regret coming to earth as a little child miraculously born from a virgin’s womb. He does not regret experiencing every temptation as a human and yet without sin. He does not regret being hung on a cross, separated from God the Father, dying, being buried and rising from the dead three days later. God does not regret. He does not regret loving you enough to suffer all He did so you might have opportunity to make a choice. Herein is love. Not that we love Him, but that He first loved us. A man named Eric Segal wrote a novel many years ago. It was named Love Story. The key tag line in the book was when the heroine declared “Love means never having to say you are sorry”.
God is not sorry, He has no regrets. He loves you.