Earlier in his life Saul had disobeyed the command of God in another situation. God had commanded him to destroy the Amalekites and their spoil. But Saul took the best animals to offer for a sacrifice to God. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of ram. For rebellion is as the sin of divination.
Rebellion is as the sin of divination.
That is no accidental comparison. Divination means having dealings with supra-normal spirits or forces to get knowledge and power. And Samuel says that is the same as rebellion against God. Man in the occult is man in rebellion. Whether he realizes it clearly or not he is involved in a seditious effort to throw off the absoluteness of the yoke of God's sovereignty and position himself at a higher level in the government of the universe.