Why does Edgar fool his father at Dover in King Lear?

Edgar wants his father to stop trying to kill himself. Edgar takes advantage of his father's blindness and makes him believe that he is on a high cliff. Gloucester thinks he is jumping off a cliff but it is really like two feet. Edgar puts on a different accent and comes to Edgar's aid. He tells him that he had jumped of a cliff and the Gods have miraculously saved him. Edgar wants his father to think the Gods favor him so he will stop trying to end his life.