regret

There are some events that hang like a cloud. The really sad things in our lives, like broken relationships, loss of friends, or failure of a business, can take the joy out of our days for a long time. We wonder what went wrong; we think of all the things we might have done differently. Sometimes there’s shame and guilt, sometimes just sorrow.

This morning I read of the event of Saul’s kingship that was finally too much for God. Ordered to exact God’s vengeance on the Amalekites, Saul ignored God’s instructions to eliminate every Amalekite person and animal; none was to be left alive. By keeping the best of the livestock and a few people as trophies, Saul in effect stole what God had claimed for himself. God declares an end to Saul’s dynasty; on Saul’s death, the throne would pass out of his family.

But this is the unexpected end to the story, from 1 Samuel 15:35: “Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”

Samuel mourned, God regretted. Israel’s first experiment with a human king was a failure.

I get why Samuel mourned. He was sad that the Israelites wanted a king other than God in the first place, and he was even more sad that now the people had a bad king. And he sorrowed over Saul’s squandered potential; remember that Saul’s kingship started with the spirit descending on Saul so that he prophesied.

I’m confused by God’s regret. It implies that God lost control somehow, that he either made a mistake or was unable to anticipate what might happen. Regret means wishing you’d not done a thing. How does that reconcile with my understanding of God as omniscient and omnipotent? After pondering, I still don’t know.

How many times, do you suppose, have I done things that caused saints to mourn and God to regret? I pray that there were few. I want there to be none, but I know my own heart. Thank God for the grace of the cross!