Seeking Salvation From an Earthly King: It didn't work then so why should it Now?

The Israelites had it all: a perfect ruler in God himself and, if they chose to submit and obey his commandments, he guaranteed to protect them and make them prosperous. . Yet, they did not appreciate what they had but sought a better life, much as we do, from an earthly ruler demanding from judge Samuel (1 sam 8) an earthly king.
Before granting their wish, however, God had this warning (and does it not sound much like what we are facing today in seeking salvation from government by asking it to fulfill our needs):

Here is NIv's presentation of 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, verses 10-20:

BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;

10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a
king. 11
He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your
sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front
of his chariots.
12
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and
others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons
of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them
to his attendants.
15
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials
and attendants.
16
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen,
and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king
over us. 20
Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out
before us and fight our battles."


Does the above sound somewhat abstract? Well, let me hit you between the eyes, so to speak, with The Message Bible presentation of verses 1018 from I Samuel 8


BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;

So Samuel told them, delivered God's warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, "This
is the way the kind of king you're talking about operates. He'll take your sons and
make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and
squadrons. He'll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and
others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury.
He'll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He'll conscript
your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends.
He'll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize
workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. He'll lay a tax on your flocks
and you'll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation
because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect
God to answer."






And today our trust in the things of man, rather than that of God, costs us even more -- and yet we ask more and more from government and other man-made entities believing that somehow they can make things better. Can they make things better other than on the surface? Well, we know the answer to that, but we still ask and demand.

Obviously, we haven't learned from history. We, slowly but surely, have to learn the same lessons the Israelites discovered as we move on in our daily readings.