If the Lord is compared to a shepherd then I am compared to sheep. Sheep are known for their "mob instincts", fear and timidity, stubbornness and stupidity. If sheep do well it is because they have a good shepherd.
Years ago I read the book "A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller. This book helped me understand some of the things I read in the Psalm. There was one part in particular that stayed with me it was the part about the shepherd anointing the sheep's head.
In the Summertime sheep are bothered by nose flies that buzz around the sheep's head hoping to deposit their eggs in the sheep's nose. If they are successful the eggs hatch into worm like larvae that works it's way up the nasal passages into the sheep's head. This causes the sheep to begin to beat their head against trees, rocks, posts etc. trying to get relief.
To protect his sheep from the flies a shepherd will smear an ointment of linseed oil, sulfur and tar over the sheep's nose and head as a protection against nose flies. Once the oil has been applied the sheep are free from agitation.
I can identify. I get so irritated sometimes by seemingly small things but they drive me crazy all the same. The thoughts buzz round and round in my mind. I can't seem to get rid of them and then they begin to multiply leaving room for nothing else. This is when I need a shepherd.
I cry out to the Shepherd to apply the oil of His Holy Spirit to my mind. I ask Him to anoint the conscious and sub-conscious levels of my thought life so that I can think and react like He would. I am alway amazed at the relief I experience in response to this prayer.
I do identify with the problems that sheep have and I am grateful that I can say ,"The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want."
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