I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you. — Psalm 32:8-9

The thing about horses and mules is that you can't depend upon them to automatically go where you want them to go. You have to control them for that to happen. You have to externally control them. You have to put bits in their mouths and bridles over their heads and lead them where you want them to go. This is necessary, of course, because they are not human and do not have the faculty of rational understanding.
To have a Godly and productive life, we should accept instruction and counsel, internalize it, understand it, and go forth in life without the necessity of external constraints.

If we walk away from the path of moral consciousness and holiness of life, law enforcers and God will have to control us. The strings will fall on our freedom.
Lord give me the discernment not to follow the advice of wicked people, the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Jesus Loves You!

(Bible league)