Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.

Good morning! Here is today’s word of blessings for you.
1 Samuel 15:8-14

8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. 10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. 12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” 13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

Today’s title is “The Regret of God”

Most bible readers know who God is. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He is the fountain of wisdom. He is righteous. He is love. These are all part of God’s characteristics. They are all true and right when we consider each characteristic of God. But when we put together all these characteristics of God as if we piece together the puzzles. It doesn’t seem to fit perfectly together at least in human eyes. For example, the love of God and righteousness of God seem to conflict in some areas. The wisdom of God doesn’t seem to always add up in some places. We hear the word of God which made many people puzzled in today’s passage. God says in verse 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions”. What are you making of this word of God? What made many people puzzled is the word that God said “I regret”. Isn’t regret a word that typically describes fallible human nature? How could God who is all-knowing and all-wise regret over what He has done as if He screwed up? That doesn’t sound like God at all. What do you think? I understand the human logic that raises questions about it. I am also puzzled at first. But God used similar expressions of regret at some other places. In Genesis 6, He regretted that He has made man on earth. “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled (Genesis 6:5-6). He expressed His regret that He has chosen Israelites as His people when He saw the constantly rebellious hearts in them. So even God is not perfect in some areas, right? Let’s not rush to such a conclusion so quickly. Granting that God’s expression of regret puzzles us, there are a lot more instances that support God’s perfect knowledge. Are we justified to disregard the overwhelming proof of God’s perfect knowledge with these seemingly incoherent instances? I don’t think so. It will be more prudent that we take instances of God’s regrets into perspective. To put them in perspective, it seems to me that with “regret” God expresses His strong frustrations over human wickedness. The depth of human depravity seemed to have even alarmed God once in a while. He knew it. He is still greatly alarmed when He personally encounters it. So I suggest that we should not overindulge in human logic in this matter. Just share the heart of God that was so appalled at human wickedness and treachery. Didn’t we also make God regret in such frustration? That’s really what we have to mull over.