Midrash sobre Salmos 78:52

(Exod. 15:22:) THEN MOSES HAD ISRAEL JOURNEY <FROM THE REED SEA>…. This text is related (to Ps. 78:52): BUT HE HAD HIS PEOPLE JOURNEY LIKE SHEEP. Why LIKE SHEEP? Because, just as the sheep are scattered and the shepherd gathers them, so in the wilderness Israelites were always fighting among themselves, weeping, and complaining, as stated (in Ps. 78:40): HOW OFTEN DID THEY DEFY HIM IN THE WILDERNESS! The Holy One, as it were, did not depart from them but led them like sheep. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 78:52): BUT HE HAD HIS PEOPLE JOURNEY LIKE SHEEP.

Another interpretation (of Ps. 78:52): Why LIKE SHEEP? Because, just as the sheep destroy the trees, and yet their master is not upset with them, <so it is with Israel>.⁴⁶Exod. R. 24:3; M. Pss. 78:17. Therefore he calls them sheep. And so it says (in Ezek. 34:31): FOR YOU MY FLOCK, THE FLOCK OF MY PASTURE, YOU ARE HUMANS. If sheep, why humans; and if humans, why sheep?⁴⁷In other words, why does Ezekiel inconsistently call Israel both ovine and human? R. Johanan said: They are sheep when it comes to punishments and humans when it comes to giving a reward. [If they are guilty, he treats them like sheep in order to punish them; but if they perform the commandments he treats them like humans in order to give them a reward. Ergo, sheep for punishments, and humans for giving a reward.]

Another interpretation (of Ps. 78:52): BUT HE HAD HIS PEOPLE JOURNEY LIKE SHEEP. R. Berekhyah said: See how beloved Israel was before the Holy One, when he called them a lamb! It is so stated (in Jer. 50:17): ISRAEL IS A SCATTERED LAMB. Whoever has a single lamb feeds it and waters it on time because it is <only> one. However, whoever has a lot of sheep is not able to care for them. He merely expends a lot of toil with them. See the love with which the Holy One loved Israel when he called them sheep and says (in Ezek. 36:37): I WILL MULTIPLY THEM LIKE SHEEP!⁴⁸Unlike human shepherds, the Holy One cares for each member of the flock as if it were an only sheep.