Berakhot 10A

כל פרשה שהיתה חביבה על דוד, פתח בה ב״אשרי״ וסיים בה ב״אשרי״. פתח ב״אשרי״, דכתיב: ״אשרי האיש״. וסיים ב״אשרי״, דכתיב: ״אשרי כל חוסי בו״.

Every chapter that was dear to David, he began with “happy is” and concluded with “happy is.” He opened with “happy is,” as it is written: “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked or stood in the way of sinners or sat in the residence place of the scornful” (Psalms 1:1). And he concluded with “happy,” as it is written at the end of the chapter: “Pay homage in purity, lest He be angry, and you perish on the way when His anger is kindled suddenly. Happy are those who take refuge in Him” (Psalms 2:12). We see that these two chapters actually constitute a single chapter.

הנהו בריוני דהוו בשבבותיה דרבי מאיר והוו קא מצערו ליה טובא. הוה קא בעי רבי מאיר רחמי עלויהו כי היכי דלימותו. אמרה ליה ברוריא דביתהו: מאי דעתך ⁠— משום דכתיב ״יתמו חטאים״, מי כתיב ״חוטאים״? ״חטאים״ כתיב.

With regard to the statement of R' Yehuda, son of R' Shimon ben Pazi, that David did not say Halleluya until he saw the downfall of the wicked, the Talmud relates: There were these hooligans in R' Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. R' Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. R' Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? On what basis do you pray for the death of these hooligans? Do you base yourself on the verse, as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35), which you interpret to mean that the world would be better if the wicked were destroyed? But is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written. One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves.