Does God change His mind?

For the past couple of weeks, I've been hearing in a couple of my classes that God changes His mind. This could be due to His intimate relationships with the prophets of the Old Testament or maybe the prayers of people who are suffering in various situations today. However, tonight as I was reading in Genesis, I read something I found rather interesting.

"The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth---men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air---for I am grieved that I have made them." - Genesis 6:6-7 - Life Application Study Bible, NIV.

Here's what the commentary says about these verses: "Does this mean that God regretted creating humanity? Was he admitting he made a mistake? No. God does not change his mind (1 Samuel 15:29). Instead, he was expressing sorrow for what the people had done to themselves, as a parent might express sorrow over a rebellious child. God was sorry that the people chose sin and death instead of a relationship with him."

I then went to read the verse in 1 Samuel, and here's what verses 28-29 say: Samuel said to (Saul), 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors---to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.'" This text leads me to Numbers 23:19 which says: "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

Malachi 3:6 says: "I the Lord do not change." James 1:17 says: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

This gives me reason to believe that God doesn't change His mind, but instead by calling us into a relationship with Him, gives us just a taste of what He's up to in the world and how He wants us to join Him in accomplishing His purpose in the lives of individuals and communities we come in contact with everyday.