I read a super sobering verse the other day. It wasn’t one of the long, truth-filled, smack you in the face verses that so often humble me. In fact, it was only 4 words that snapped me to attention real fast. 4 words, that’s it.
“And the Lord regretted…”
This scripture comes from the end of 1 Samuel 15:35. Where we pick up in the story here is a time when Saul, the king of Israel at the time, disobeyed God, and the Lord is angry and has rejected Saul as king.
Now I know God is capable of many emotions: anger (Numbers 32:13), comfort (Psalm 34:18), joy (Nehemiah 8:10). But for reasons unknown, the idea of God regretting hurts my heart. To think that God who gives graciously would regret something he gave someone.
And you might be thinking, well what did the Lord regret?
He regretted making Saul the king over Israel. He regretted anointing (blessing) Saul. The Lord regretted entrusting Saul with the kingdom and with His Kingdom. All because of disobedience.
And part of me can’t help but think and feel pain at all the times I too have disobeyed. Even knowing that my sins, mistakes and failures are completely paid for by the blood of Jesus…have there been times the Lord has graciously given to me and I have plundered those blessings out of the rebellion in my heart?
The answer is yes. Now, does the Lord regret giving my those things? I don’t know.
Hear me, God never regrets sending Jesus to die for our sins, granting us salvation, or anything like that. We are God’s precious children whom He loves and in whom He is well pleased. But the Lord does entrust us with the little so that we can show Him that He can trust us with the more.
The new testament is filled with parables Jesus gave about being given the little to supernaturally multiply for the good of others and the glory of God.
Luke 16:10 “‘Whoever can be entrusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Matthew 25: The Parable of the Bags of Gold (Verses 14 through 30)
In this parable, a man went on a journey and entrusted his wealth to his servants. “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.” The man who was given five worked and gained 5 more; the same thing is true of the one given two, who increased the wealth by two bags. However, the man who had received one bag hid the money in a hole in the ground out of fear. Eventually the master returns to settle accounts with his servants.
To the servants who were given five bags and two bags respectively, and both doubled them, he said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
But to the man who hid the one bag out of fear, the master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant!” and gave his one bag to the man who had ten. “‘For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.'”
This parable is a picture of God giving to us and us using what was given to multiply the Kingdom of God. God gives us the few and we show Him that He can trust us with the many. I don’t know about y’all, but there have been many times (more than I’d like to admit) where I have been the servant that hid the one that God gave me.
And while I know God still loves me unconditionally, I also think there is a bit of disappointment — NOT in me, but in the opportunity lost. I mean, there’s certainly regret. Scripture tells us this. But the thing is, it’s not the “regret” we experience as humans. It’s a deep, sorrowful lament. Genesis 6:6 says “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth and his heart was deeply troubled.“
You see, we regret because we do not know the future and therefore we often wish we could go back and change our decisions. But that is not the nature of God. God is all-knowing and has perfect foreknowledge before anything happens. That means God is never caught off guard or surprised by anything that happens. Yet despite knowing what will happen, God is able to still feel sorrow at the start of affairs that occurred.
As John Piper puts it, God is capable of lamenting over something He brought about. So His regret is not from not knowing what would happen, but rather knowing and still feeling sorrowful. We can’t understand this type of regret because we are not God, but because God is God, He is capable of emotions and states of being that we can’t even begin to comprehend. An example of this is God regretting.
The amazing part, to me, in all of this is that when God regrets and laments, it doesn’t mean He wishes he would’ve chosen another path like we often do when we mess up. Why? Because God doesn’t mess up. We see that in 1 Samuel 15:29, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” Right here, we are told that God is not like man for He does not change his mind or mess up.
In fact, the ESV version of that same verse says, “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” What?? The Lord regretted, but now Scripture is telling us He didn’t? Nope! It’s saying that God does not regret like humans do, in ignorance of future events — which lines us up to better understand what 1 Samuel 15:35 means when it says “And the Lord regretted”.
Yes, the Lord regretted, but because He had perfect foreknowledge of events, it doesn’t mean He would have changed his decision. John Piper put it perfectly: “For God to say, ‘I feel sorrow that I made Saul king’ is not the same thing as saying, ‘I would not make him king if I had to do it over.’ Oh yes, he would. God is able to feel sorrow for an act in view of foreknown evil — foreknown pain and sorrow and misery — and yet go ahead and do it for wise reasons.”
Meaning God would not have done it different with Saul if He had the chance. And He would not do it differently with you if He had the chance either. That is amazing grace.
But at the same time, the idea that my behavior and choices could cause God sorrow (and already has) also breaks my heart. I am so thankful that God knows my future actions and yet continues to love me and protect me by making the decisions He knows are best. I am also so convicted to want to live with the heart of a king that I was created to have, and to steward the “few” well.
You see, I never want to be caught in a place that needs the heart of a king when I have the heart of a rebel like Saul. God’s Kingdom needs those with the hearts of a king, with the hearts that are obedient and passionate and can be entrusted with the very little.
I want to be someone who God looks at and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” I want to learn to obey the Lord, follow the Cloud, and live with the heart of a King so that the Lord would not regret trusting me with His Kingdom. With releasing the Kingdom of God and living out my God-given purpose.
The Lord does not regret His choice, but He also chooses us to be trusted with His Kingdom and His riches. May we be people who steward the goodness of God well so that we may trusted with more of His everlasting riches.
This was certainly an eye-opening post – I’ve never really stopped to think about God regretting something he put in motion. Disappointment? Certainly. Hurt? Yes. But not regret. This thought alone should be enough to drive us closer to living life for the Lord.
Thank you! I had never thought about it either until I read that. But you are so right, that thought, along with God’s grace, draws us to living for the Lord and the Kingdom He has entrusted us with.