Before us is the final section of Chapter 104 in Tehillim, the great chapter of "Barchi Nafshi," in which King David reviews the entirety of the work of creation and the Creator's providence over His world. At the conclusion of the chapter, David transitions from contemplating creation to contemplating the conduct of divine judgment: how the Holy One, blessed be He, looks at the earth and it trembles, how fitting it is for man to sing and make music to his Creator, and when our prayer and speech are sweet before Him. The chapter concludes with the verse "Let sins cease from the earth," from which our Sages derived a profound principle regarding how to view the sinner.
הַמַּבִּיט לָאָרֶץ וַתִּרְעָד, יִגַּע בֶּהָרִים וְיֶעֱשָׁנוּ׃ - He Who looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Ibn Ezra explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, suspends the earth upon nothingness and bears it by His power, "it shall not collapse for all eternity" - the earth stands solely because Hashem upholds it. And if the Creator so desires, with a single glance the earth trembles and the mountains are consumed by fire. Some explain, as Ibn Ezra cites, that "and it trembles" (vatir'ad) is causative - Hashem looks at the earth and it shakes its inhabitants. Rashi comments on "He touches the mountains, and they smoke" that this evokes Mount Sinai, which was completely wrapped in smoke when the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself upon it and "touched" it.
The Radak explains that this is a metaphor for the destruction of the wicked: as it were, the earth trembles and the mountains billow smoke - a metaphor for the wicked who are consumed by fire before the wrath of Hashem, so that their power and glory perish. We find a similar metaphor in the Torah: "For a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns down to the lowest depths," and "and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains." This is a metaphorical expression conveying the Creator's fury against the inhabitants of the lower world. The Radak adds a wonderful insight: Scripture begins with "He Who looks" and continues with "He touches" - to teach that the touch is itself the gaze and divine providence. The Holy One, blessed be He, does not require a physical touch like a human being who must touch an object to move it; His very gaze is already the touch - "He touches the mountains, and they smoke."
The Malbim explains: Even when Hashem intends to bring ruin upon the world, He looks at the earth and it trembles in dread of punishment, and He touches the mountains and they emit smoke on account of the earthquake - yet even so, Hashem does not destroy all His creatures. He gazes only to destroy and punish the wicked who deserve retribution, not everyone, as will be explained more fully later in the chapter.
אָשִׁירָה לַה' בְּחַיָּי, אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹהַי בְּעוֹדִי׃ - I will sing to Hashem throughout my life; I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
The Radak explains that this verse speaks in the voice of the Jewish people and the servants of Hashem among the nations: The wicked will perish when Hashem looks at the earth and it trembles, and touches the mountains and they smoke, whereas I will remain alive - "and I will sing to Hashem throughout my life."
The Malbim adds: "I will sing to Hashem throughout my life" - for then it will become evident that I was rescued and remained alive through Hashem's providence while all the wicked perish; therefore, I will sing to Him for sustaining me because I remained attached to Him. And what is the meaning of "be'odi"? Rashi interprets it as "while I am still alive." But the Malbim explains: for the "od" - for the additional bounty that the Creator bestowed upon me, showering me with all goodness - for that, "I will make music to my God for my surplus."
What is the difference between "I will sing" (ashirah) and "I will chant praise" (azamrah)? The Malbim explains, as he already clarified above in chapter 101, that zemer (chanting praise) is superior to shir (song), because zemer is used exclusively in reference to the Holy One, Blessed be He - "I will sing praises to Hashem" - whereas a shir can be sung about any matter in the world. Furthermore, there is a distinction - a fundamental principle the Malbim reiterates many times throughout his commentary - between the Four-Letter Name of Hashem (Havayah) and the name "Elokai" (my God). The Name Havayah represents His universal governance, bringing the entire creation into being; whereas "Elokai" reflects His specific relationship with me, as my personal God, expressing Divine Providence (hashgachah pratit) and His personal bond with human beings.
According to this, "I will sing to Hashem with my life" refers to song directed toward the One Who sustains all of creation; yet there is a higher level, zemer, which is unique to the Creator of the universe in His role as "my God" - His individual Providence over me. This warrants a distinct song of praise and distinct laudation, stemming from the dimension of "You are children to Hashem, your God," which is a far greater distinction. This is the meaning of be'odi ("while I yet have being") - referring to the additional and surplus elevation I possess over the rest of creation by being a child of the Holy One, Blessed be He.
The sefer Tehilot Maharitz explains: We know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, sends suffering to the righteous so that the righteous person will pray and plead for mercy, as Chazal taught that the Avot and Imahot were barren because the Holy One, Blessed be He, yearns for the prayers of the righteous. Hashem shares in the pain of the righteous in their distress, yet there is a positive purpose and objective to this: suffering brings the righteous closer to their Creator. Even so, the greatest joy for the Holy One, Blessed be He, is precisely when He bestows abundance upon the righteous, rather than when He is, as it were, compelled to afflict them - on the contrary, it causes Him sorrow when the righteous suffer.
To what can this be compared? To a parent who knows that at times he must discipline his child. Even though he is fully confident in the decision and has no doubt this is the consequence the child needs to receive, it is difficult for him to see his child suffer; it is far more pleasant for him to give the child a reward than a punishment. And take note, here we are speaking of the righteous: the Avot were righteous, yet Hashem yearned for their prayers and was, as it were, compelled to bring affliction upon them so that they would pray.
This is what King David comes to say: "I will sing to Hashem with my life; I will chant praise to my God while I yet have being" - may it be that I merit always to sing, chant praises, and thank Hashem, may He be blessed, for the goodness He bestows upon me, and not have to pray constantly over afflictions and troubles. Even though Hashem yearns for the prayers of the righteous, would that this not be the way I fulfill His will, as it were. For when I give thanks and praise for the goodness He bestows upon me, surely "may my meditation be sweet to Him" even more, as my prayer is sweeter to Him when "I rejoice in Hashem," rather than when I come out of distress and hardship.
However, we know that typically, when a person enjoys good, he quickly gets used to it and stops singing, but when he faces troubles, he never stops complaining. The Gra points this out: It is written, "He who finds a wife finds good, and obtains favor from Hashem," yet elsewhere it is written, "And I find more bitter than death the woman" - is she more bitter than death, or is she finding good? The Gra explains: Notice the change in wording. "Finds" (matza) is in the past tense, whereas "I find" (umotze ani) is in the present tense. For the good, a person found once, and he has already grown accustomed to it; he has lived with it for thirty years, and he does not even see a need to thank the Master of the Universe, because it has become natural and taken for granted. But the bad - "I find" - is felt anew every single day. As is written regarding a contentious wife: "A continual dripping on a rainy day" - drop after drop, an endless torment.
This is what David means when he says: "I will rejoice in Hashem" - that I may rejoice in Hashem, may He be blessed, when the reality is that the Holy One, Blessed be He, bestows goodness upon me. Yet as noted, good causes us to quickly take things for granted, and then we no longer sing praises; and sometimes a person must be brought a little suffering just so he remembers that there is a Holy One, Blessed be He.
יֶעֱרַב עָלָיו שִׂיחִי, אָנֹכִי אֶשְׂמַח בַּה'׃ - May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will rejoice in Hashem.
The Radak explains: "May my meditation be sweet to Him" - may my song, thanksgiving, and praise be pleasing to God; "and I will rejoice in Hashem" - this corresponds to what was said earlier, "Hashem will rejoice in His works." In other words, Hashem rejoices in us and we rejoice in Him; we are a people to Him, and He is God to us. This aligns with what we have explained multiple times: the bond between us and the Holy One, Blessed be He, is always two-sided, like the keruvim. When their faces were turned toward one another, it symbolized a close bond; but when their faces were turned toward the Temple walls, with each looking to his own affairs and mundane matters, then the facing cherub, representing the Holy One, Blessed be He, likewise turns its back. "Hashem is your shadow upon your right hand" - just as we conduct ourselves toward Hashem, so is the closeness we merit from Him, may He be blessed.
Incidentally, the true hallmark and emblem of genuine service of Hashem is one who serves the Holy One, Blessed is He, out of joy - "I will rejoice in Hashem." But someone who serves the Creator yet constantly looks tormented and suffering, a bruised ascetic who knocks his feet and always wears a sour face - the Holy One, Blessed is He, has no interest in such "righteous" people. Once, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter was walking down the street before Rosh Hashanah and greeted a fellow Jew, who did not reply and looked somber. Rabbi Yisrael said of him that such a person is like an open pit in the public domain, and told him: Why display a sour face? Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment - on the contrary, greet people with a shining countenance, and you will have an additional merit for the Day of Judgment.
A person who feels that there is misery in fulfilling the mitzvos is pitiable, and this is not divine service. "Yet you have not called upon Me, O Yaakov, for you have grown weary of Me, O Yisrael" - the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: It is not Me you are fulfilling; My mitzvos gladden. If you are sad, this is not My mitzvah, for My mitzvah is meant to bring you joy. And all the righteous and great Torah leaders - anyone who looked at them saw them radiant and happy. Anyone who saw the Chazon Ish saw a constant faint smile on his face - and that man lived with excruciating torment, testifying about himself that he was continuously in the category of a dangerously ill patient for whom Shabbat may be desecrated; he was accustomed to sickness and pain all his life, and beyond that, he suffered on account of his wife, who was not mentally well, and had no children - yet joy was always seen in his home. Anyone who saw Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach saw a perpetual smile; anyone who heard Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul saw a joyful man; anyone who heard Rav Mordechai Eliyahu - all of his classes were delivered with a gentle smile. You have mitzvos, rejoice in them! You serve Hashem, be joyful! And if you are not joyful, it raises the suspicion that perhaps you are serving other things: "The orders of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart" - if they are upright, they gladden the heart; and if you have no joy, perhaps something is crooked and flawed within you.
Similarly, the Holy One, Blessed is He, commands, "And you shall love Hashem your God." And what do we recite in the blessing preceding it? "Who chooses His people Yisrael with love." First Hashem chooses us with love, and only afterward comes "and you shall love." Hashem asks for your love only after He loves you and showers you with endless love. "You are children to Hashem your God" - what reason could you possibly have to be sad? A person ought to walk around constantly in tremendous joy over this privilege.
One can also read the verse as a condition: when "I will rejoice in Hashem" - then "may my meditation be sweet to Him." But if divine service stems from sadness and depression, one's meditation will not be sweet to Him. The Holy One, Blessed is He, says: What is such service worth to Me? It is like asking your child to fetch you something, and he does it, but grumbling all the way with a sour face and the attitude of "you are exploiting me" - your desire is ruined and you tell him: Never mind, do not do it, I will do it myself. Contrast this with the child who says, "Yes, Abba, with pleasure! Do you need anything else?" - one wants to kiss such a child. Exactly so, "You are children to Hashem your God": one who acts this way, feeling all his mitzvos are a burden and looking for how to get rid of them - how can he expect Hashem to take pleasure in him? "May my meditation be sweet to Him" - when? When "I will rejoice in Hashem." Such a prayer stands before Him and is sweet to Him. A person should rejoice to stand before Hashem; he should not pray Shemoneh Esreh while thinking how to wrap it up and when it will end, but rather think, how can I remain just one more moment with the Holy One, Blessed is He? That is the prayer that is accepted and pleasing before Him, blessed be He.
A great man once remarked: What is the true definition of love of Hashem? If a person were told that one receives punishment for mitzvos and reward for sins, but that the Holy One, Blessed is He, desires that he fulfill mitzvos - and the person still fulfills mitzvos. That is the hallmark of love of Hashem: I am not looking out for what I will gain or what the outcome will be, but rather I know that through a mitzvah I bring joy to Hashem, and through a sin I cause Him sorrow. To be sure, this is an exceedingly high level, and who can attain such a merit? But at the very least, let us understand that this is the essence of love of Hashem. "Yet you have not called upon Me, O Yaakov, for you have grown weary of Me" - My mitzvos bring joy and are not depressing; and if a person feels that they depress him, let him study more mussar and realize how much he ought to rejoice in Hashem's mitzvos, and this will transform his entire perspective on fulfilling the mitzvos.
A young man once approached Rav Shteinman and asked: Does the Rav like steaks? The Rav asked: What are steaks? The young man explained that it is a juicy cut of grilled meat. The Rav said: I am unfamiliar with it, and presumably not. The young man asked: Does anyone force the Rav to eat steaks? He replied: No, baruch Hashem. The young man said to him: Does the Rav love Torah? He replied: Very much so. The young man said to him: But I do not love Torah, I do not enjoy studying, and I do love steaks - so why am I being forced to do something I do not love? After all, he was a young bachur, told to go to yeshivah and sit and learn, yet he did not enjoy studying.
Rav Shteinman answered him with a parable: Once, someone was offered honey to taste. They said to him: Here, taste it, it is sweet and delicious. He refused at first, but finally tasted it - and began to scream that it was bitter and terrible, and spat it out. What turned out to be the case? He had sores in his mouth and on his tongue, and anything that touched them caused pain and bitterness. The Rav said to him: Is honey sweet or not sweet? Of course it is sweet, but this man has sores. So too, "The orders of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart" - and if it does not bring you joy, you evidently have sores in your mouth. And what are these sores? The sins a person commits and his cravings after the vanities of this world. Every attraction to yet another vanity expels more holiness; every attraction to yet another impurity expels more holiness, and you cannot have both together. Stop being drawn after impurity, and you will suddenly discover how truly "the orders of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart," how the Torah is "sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb." Why do you not sense its sweetness? Because instead of having Torah in your head, you have TV series in your head; you are living in a movie and immersed in physical, materialistic pursuits. Disconnect - and the moment you disconnect, you will see how wonderful and sweet the Torah is.
This can be seen most clearly among ba'alei teshuvah. Rav Uri Zohar, of blessed and righteous memory, recounted that he had been crazily obsessed with soccer to an unimaginable degree, and detaching from it was exceedingly difficult for him. He worked on himself, achieved that detachment, and attained a supreme love of Torah, clinging to Torah in every spare moment. Once, he went to visit relatives and a soccer match was playing on the screen. He thought: Let me sit down, reminisce, and watch. He later said: In truth, I looked at it and it did not speak to me at all; after two minutes I was bored and asked to change the subject. That is to say, when soccer fills your mind, it cannot coexist with Torah; but the moment you clear space, you suddenly see how much room there is for Torah and how sweet and wonderful it is. As the Chovos HaLevavos states, this world and the World to Come are like two rival wives: if you please one you anger the other, and if you please the other you anger the first - and it is impossible to please them both. Therefore, when a person asks, "Why do I have no attraction to Torah, and why do I find no taste in study?" the first question must be: Where do you find taste? Examine what stimulates your taste, and you will understand that this is the Achilles' heel preventing you from tasting anything else. Begin to disconnect from social media, television, movies, and cravings for worldly pursuits - and suddenly you will feel more spiritual, suddenly the Torah will speak to you. But they cannot coexist, and consequently, without this, there is no "I will rejoice in Hashem."
The Malbim explains: "May my meditation be sweet to Him" - the song I sing will be about my life and my strength, about the good Hashem bestows upon me, but not about the destruction of the wicked. Although the wicked will perish when the Holy One, Blessed is He, reveals Himself, as stated in the following verse, "Let sins cease from the earth," I do not sing of this, because such a song will not be sweet before Hashem. The Holy One, Blessed is He, takes no pleasure in our rejoicing over the downfall of the wicked - "My handiwork is drowning in the sea, and you are reciting a song of praise?" Therefore, I will sing to Hashem of the good He does for me and of my deliverance, not of how He exacts retribution from them; such a song will be sweet before Him.
Nevertheless, David HaMelech states that he himself, in his heart, rejoices that sinners will cease from the earth, and the Malbim connects this to the following verse. For it is written, "It is joy to the righteous when justice is done" - when there is heavenly judgment, there is joy for the tzaddik, because then it is seen that the Holy One, Blessed is He, exacts retribution from the wicked. A country like Ukraine tormented us and caused us endless grief; anyone who reads of the atrocities committed there is horrified - Chmielnicki and his cohorts, the massacres of Tach veTat (1648-1649), and to this day he is considered a national hero among them. When the Holy One, Blessed is He, exacts retribution from the wicked, we feel no heartache for them; the time has come for retribution. When He exacted retribution from Egypt, the time had come; when He exacts retribution from all the nations whose time has arrived - on the contrary, "it is joy to the righteous when justice is done," for the righteous person rejoices that the Creator executes justice, as the Creator's justice is thereby revealed.
We previously discussed the civil war that took place in Spain, which some say claimed over a million lives. When this was related to the Chofetz Chaim, he said: "Do you think the Holy One, blessed be He, forgot what we endured four hundred years ago? (And today, already five hundred.) Do you think the Holy One, blessed be He, forgot the expulsion from Spain? The Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution from them when the time comes." We tend to want everything to happen quickly, but the Holy One, blessed be He, has no need to rush. Therefore, the righteous person on his own level rejoices when he sees how the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution from the wicked, and I rejoice in my heart that sinners have ceased - that there will no longer be wicked people who act wickedly and sin willfully against the Creator. And even though there may still be those categorized as "sinners" [chotta'im], whose sin is unintentional or born of an overwhelming evil inclination, there will be no wicked people who act out of willful defiance of heart; all will witness the judgments of Hashem and fear, hesitating to act against His will. For this reason, "Bless Hashem, O my soul," just as Chazal taught that David saw the downfall of the wicked and broke into song - because then I behold how "Hashem alone shall be exalted on that day," without those wicked people who cause the public to sin. Thus, two aspects emerge: on my own level, I rejoice that the Holy One, blessed be He, destroys the wicked, yet this is not the joy that is sweet before Him; "May my meditation be sweet to Him" applies specifically when "I will rejoice in Hashem."
יִתַּמּוּ חַטָּאִים מִן הָאָרֶץ וּרְשָׁעִים עוֹד אֵינָם, בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה' הַלְלוּ־יָהּ׃ - "Let sinners cease from the earth, and the wicked be no more; bless Hashem, O my soul, Halleluyah!"
The Radak explains: In this world, what is gained if sinners cease? They cease - only for new sinners to emerge, and the cycle repeats; moreover, the new sinners are usually "upgraded" compared to their predecessors. But when speaking of the Messianic era, the wicked will perish and wickedness will no longer exist in the world, which is the meaning of "and the wicked be no more": "He will destroy death forever, and the Lord Hashem will wipe away tears from all faces." Then, truly, "sinners will cease from the earth," so that no others will arise in their place and no wickedness will remain at all. At that point, "bless Hashem, O my soul," and all the nations will likewise thank and praise Hashem, blessed be He - Halleluyah.
The Radak further cites Ibn Ezra: "May the glory of Hashem endure forever" - the glory of Hashem is manifest through the creations, for when one beholds creation, His glory is revealed, and then "Hashem will rejoice in His works" because creation endures according to its proper design. And He is "He Who looks upon the earth and it trembles," suspending the earth upon nothingness and sustaining it so that it will never collapse for all eternity; yet if He willed it, the earth would quake and the mountains would burn. Regarding this we pray and say, "I will sing to Hashem": I am obligated to thank Hashem, blessed be He, for performing all these mighty acts, and for this entire reality in which sinners will ultimately cease and the righteous will remain - for all of this I will sing, praise, and laud the Creator, blessed be He. "Bless [Hashem], O my soul" refers to the destruction of the wicked, and to "the wise" he says "Halleluyah."
And what is "Halleluyah"? The Radak explains that this is the greatest praise of all, and as Chazal noted, it encompasses both song and praise as one. "Yah" is half of the Divine Name, and for brevity it was joined with "hallelu" to form a single word - "Halleluyah." He further cites Chazal in Berakhot 9b: David recited one hundred and three chapters and did not utter "Halleluyah" until he witnessed the downfall of the wicked and sang praise. That is to say, until this point - we are in Chapter 104, after 103 preceding chapters - "Halleluyah" does not appear. Only when "sinners cease from the earth" is it fitting to praise, sing, and laud the Creator, for through this the glory of His kingship is magnified, without the wicked desecrating His Name.
The Malbim explains the distinction between "sinners" [chotta'im] and "the wicked" [resha'im]: The wicked person - whether in matters between man and his fellow or between man and the Omnipresent - is not merely driven by lust, but by an ideology; he desires to act wickedly. In contrast, the sinner stumbles unintentionally, because his evil inclination overpowered him. This is what the verse means: "Let sinners cease from the earth" - even those who sin due to their inclination; "and the wicked be no more" - those who act in order to be truly wicked; and through this, "Bless Hashem, O my soul."
The Gemara in Berakhot 10a relates a well-known episode concerning Rabbi Meir and his wife, Bruriah: "There were certain hoodlums in Rabbi Meir's neighborhood who caused him great distress." Rabbi Meir prayed for mercy that they should die. The expression is somewhat puzzling: should it not have said that he prayed for strict justice upon them? Rather, death for the wicked is good for them and good for the world. First of all, it is good for them: if a wicked person had died at age twenty, would it not have been better for him? By living another sixty years, he added more wood to his pyre in the World to Come; would it not have been better had he departed sixty years earlier? Every additional year adds more transgressions. Therefore, death for the wicked is good for them, and also good for the world - and this is why it is termed praying for mercy upon them.
Bruriah said to him: "What is your reasoning? Because it says, 'Let sinners cease'? Is it written 'sinners' [chote'im]? It is written 'sins' [chata'im]!" That is, we do not pray that the sinner should cease, but rather that the sin itself should cease - that the transgression should come to an end, not the transgressor. Furthermore, she said to him: "Look to the end of the verse: 'and the wicked be no more.' Once sins cease - once they no longer commit sins - they are automatically no longer wicked. It follows that you should pray for mercy upon them that they repent, and then 'the wicked be no more,' not that they should die, but that they will no longer be wicked, having become righteous instead." The Gemara concludes: He prayed for mercy upon them, and they repented.
Despite Bruriah's beautiful homiletical interpretation, some commentators wrote sharp words against it, citing, "A woman's wisdom is only with the spindle," for this is certainly not the plain meaning of the text. Let us examine Rashi, who provides the plain meaning of Scripture: "'Let sinners cease' - this means actual sinners [chote'im]," in accordance with Rabbi Meir's initial understanding. Moreover, this is proven by the grammar of the Holy Tongue: had it been written "chata'im" with a soft tet, it would mean that the sins themselves should cease. But since it is vocalized "chatta'im" with a dagesh, it is like the difference between gemallim [camels] and gammalim [camel drivers] - gemallim are the animals, while gammalim with a dagesh are the drivers of the camels. In the same way, "chatta'im" with a dagesh refers to the people who sin. Thus, the plain meaning of the verse is certainly that the sinners should cease, and not as Bruriah interpreted.
However, one must ask: How could King David pray for sinners to die? The Ben Yehoyada explains: King David was foremost in Ruach HaKodesh (divine inspiration), and he saw through his Ruach HaKodesh that those sinners and transgressors were so deeply immersed in the sitra achra (the side of impurity) that they had no chance of repenting; therefore, he prayed that they perish. But do not extrapolate from this to every sinner - David saw through Ruach HaKodesh, but you must not draw conclusions from this regarding any sinner.
The Ben Yehoyada offers another possibility: David knew that they were sinning and causing others to sin, and it is written that whoever sins and causes others to sin is not granted the opportunity to repent; therefore, one cannot suggest that they might yet repent. The first explanation is somewhat difficult - to say that he foresaw through Ruach HaKodesh that they would not repent - because, as we have explained in the past, King Chizkiyahu did not see through Ruach HaKodesh that Menashe was destined to repent. Why? Because the root of teshuvah lies in the three upper Sefirot, in Binah, whereas Ruach HaKodesh and prophecy perceive only within the seven lower Sefirot, which correspond to this world; therefore, he saw Menashe as wicked and did not foresee his repentance. If so, it is difficult to say that one can discern through Ruach HaKodesh whether people will repent or not. Consequently, he added that they were sinning and causing others to sin, regarding whom it is said that they are not given the opportunity to repent.
In the sefer Imrot Tehorot, another reason is brought in the name of the Maharatz Chajes as to why the verse says chata'im (sins) and not chot'im (sinners): because a righteous child might very well descend from them. Avraham descended from Terach - had one prayed for Terach to die in his youth, we would not have had Avraham. And King David himself descended from Lot. Therefore, specifically here David says, "Bless Hashem, O my soul": I am obligated to bless and thank Hashem, Blessed be He, for had people prayed for the wicked to die, they would have prayed for Lot to die - and I would never have come into the world. Therefore, "May sins cease" means that the sin should cease and not the sinner, for if you pray for the sinner to perish, where is my existence? And over this David exclaims, "Bless Hashem, O my soul," for my existence came about because the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not destroy those who fell under the category of sinners, in line with what we say: it is better that sin cease rather than the sinner.
Let us conclude with the words of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who explains "I will rejoice in Hashem": through my rejoicing in the Holy One, Blessed be He - "sins shall cease" (yitamu chata'im). He explains yitamu as being related to wholeness and perfection, and chata'im in the sense of deficiency, as in the verse "then I and my son Solomon shall be lacking" (I Kings 1:21), and like missing (lehachti) the target, which connotes deficiency. If so, when I rejoice in Hashem, I thereby rectify all deficiencies; "deficiencies shall be made whole": the deficiencies will be completed, I will elevate the sparks of holiness, and bring everything to completion.