The Lord is my Shepherd 2

I'm ruminating on the 23rd Psalm. Clearly David the Shepherd-King knew what he was talking about, but it took the modern Berbers to help me understand the picture he painted.
The Lord Jesus referred to himself as the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep. Bad shepherds run away at the first sign of danger because they are only hirelings; the sheep are not theirs so they have little commitment to care for the sheep-they are false shepherds. I suppose they will not care if a sheep is lost, or dies from eating poisonous weeds- they can blame wild animals.

Jesus made at least 10 references to sheep and shepherding in 2 Gospels- Matthew and John (neither Mark or Luke seem to  give this a menton).
He is the good Shepherd who knows his sheep and goes after the lost and ultimately is prepared to die for them.

Few nowadays in the West have much to do with sheep and those who do would not recognise the old Berber shepherds life. I once went to interview a Shepherd responsible for 2000 ewes and 8 rams; he was responsible to the Manager who in turn was responsible to the Estate owner. He didn't find out for days when 8 sheep were 'rustled'. He had 2 sheepdogs and a lot of data about preventing and treating sickness. Did you know that stress is one of the worst problems for sheep? Also he had to get the optimum nutrition levels for his ewes to have healthy lambs at the right time, and bred them to have twins. Male lambs are castrated and sold for meat. It is the males after all that are expendible, the ewes provide new lambs and wool!

Who are the shepherds now?
I still need the Lord to be my Shepherd for He is the only one to notice when I am in trouble and come to rescue me; indeed He has done more than that!

The Lord is my Shepherd??

As a child I had to learn by heart to recite the 23rd Psalm-'The Lord is my shepherd'. As an 8 year old growing up in the country I knew that shepherds drove their flock with the help of sheepdogs (domesticated wolves) and I couldn't understand why I-a girl- would want a shepherd as I wasn't a sheep-and why if I had him wouldn't I want him? It was all very odd and although I got the general idea I didn't really understand this.

Then I read the story of the Berber shepherds (it must be true I read it in the Readers Digest)!
Every evening the Shepherds sing their song -we called it the 23rd Psalm, a song of David the Shepherd King). They explain what it means, as I remember, like this:-

Every morning the Shepherd must lead his flock from the shelter of the valley to the high pasture where there is grass. To do this they must follow him closely up a narrow path beside a deep ravine (the valley of the shadow of death). At the top the ravine is narrow and the shepherd straddles it and uses his staff and rod to help each sheep to jump it and reach the pasture. When they are all safely across and begin to eat, he goes ahead of them and pulls up the poisonous weeds (their enemies) and lays them on a flat rock to shrivel in the sun. He makes a little pool beside the steam so they can drink, for sheep cannot drink safely from running water.
The shepherd then rests in the shade of a rock or bush and during the middle of the day each sheep will at some point come to him for a nuzzle or kind word.
At the end of the day flocks are led back the way they had come. When they reach the fold the shepherd inspects each one for any sores or wounds which he cleans and soothes by pouring oil over them. He fills a basin with water to overflowing (sheep need to put the whole mouth in water, they cannot lap). Then when all are safely in the fold he lies down to sleep across the entrance and becomes the 'door' which protects them for the night.

So now I know why I need my good Shepherd!