Do you think all God wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult. I Samuel 15:22-23 (TM)

There is a spectrum of people who "don’t get it". On one end you have those Samuel addresses who weekly stage "a lavish religious production". They look good, they go to church, they put on the act – but their hearts have not been changed. On the other hand you have those who refuse to truly follow God, but they look at themselves and say "well, I think I’m an alright guy. I’m not worshiping the occult or killing people or doing anything really bad." In both cases, the issue is one of a heart that does not follow after God.

Interesting that God chose this story to precede the calling of David, a man after God’s own heart.