In Psalm 110:4 it says, “The Lord…will not change his mind.” Yet in Jonah 3 it says that God would destroy Nineveh in forty days. Then later on it says He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened. In the King James version it says that “God repented of the evil he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” In other words, God changed His mind. How should we understand this seeming contradiction? Why did God pronounce judgment on Nineveh? Because they were a wicked city. God’s righteous character demanded that He judge then for the evil they did. Why did God then have compassion on the Ninevites? Because they responded to Jonah’s proclamation of judgment by calling a fast, giving up their evil ways and their violence and pleading for God’s mercy. God’s character is such that He will always respond to a broken and contrite heart with grace and mercy. God didn’t arbitrarily change His mind. He responded to the changing circumstances in a way that was consistent with His character. Had He not done so, He would in fact have changed in His character. Being God He can’t do that. He is immutable or unchangeable. In other words, if you’re relationship with God changes it is because you have changed, not because God has changed. A bumper sticker I once saw captured this truth. It read, “If you don’t feel God’s presence, guess who moved?”