The theme of Psalm 141 is King David's concern that the wicked will seduce him to be like them. Because of this he prays that G-d give him various kinds of protections among them, "Let the righteous man smite me in kindness, let him correct me the way oil anoints the head and let not my head refuse it", (verse 5). According to the books of Kabbala there is a force of retribution in the world. Therefore if a person does anything wrong he should worry about bad things happening to him even though his sins may be overlooked. In Psalm 17:13 he asks that his soul escape from the wicked who are the sword of the holy One blessed be He. In other psalms he worries about disease and embarrassment. The Chumash contains all sorts of threats about bad behavior with things as light as nervousness and building up to abject horrors.
Everybody makes mistakes and a good person would want them to be corrected. In line with this Ethics of our Fathers lists loving rebuke as one of the ways that the Torah is acquired and the book of Proverbs (9:8) says, "Do not reprove a joker, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you".
The question is what is the best way to receive a hard knock when it is needed? King David says it's best to take the hit from a tsadik. The simplest reason is that he will do it kindly. A better reason is that the wrongdoer will know why he got the hit and have an idea of the proper remedy.
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