Does God Make Mistakes? What About His Statement in Genesis 6?

How can we understand this passage:

“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. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:5-8 

How can a perfect God regret something He did? Did He make a mistake?

God is not like man, so the Bible uses figures of speech that help us understand Him with our finite minds.(1) 

In this passage, God isn't admitting a mistake—He's expressing His deep grief over mankind's sin. Our disobedience grieves our perfect, holy, loving God (Ephesians 4:30). 

Before the Flood, mankind had become completely evil. Noah was the only righteous man alive.(2)

If others had repented, they'd have been saved. We know this because later in history God stopped his plan to destroy Nineveh because the whole city repented (Jonah 3).

God's grace is big enough to forgive the worst of sinners if they repent (Romans 5:20).  

Our perfect God never makes mistakes. We can completely trust in His wisdom and His grace (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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For a similar question see: Does God Change His Mind?

(1) These are called “anthropopathisms” when human emotions are ascribed to non-human beings or objects. 

(2) Were Noah's family members as evil as the rest of mankind? Did God only include them on the ark so the human race could survive? In Genesis 7:1, it says "The LORD then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation." The Hebrew word used for "you" in this verse is singular and masculine, so this statement does not call Noah's family righteous. Scripture does not tell us about the moral state of Noah's family. But most people assume they were not as righteous as Noah, yet they were not as evil as the rest of the culture.

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