God rebukes us so that we will follow the proper path. When He causes us to suffer it is because of His love for us. One who does not love God will ignore His rebuke.

Rabbi Yosei opened [his discourse with the following verse]: “Do not despise the admonition of the Lord, my son, and do not loathe His rebuke” (Proverbs 3:11). How beloved is Israel before the Holy One, blessed be He! The Holy One, blessed be He, wants to rebuke them and lead them along the straight path, like a father who loves his son. Because of his love [for his son], he always holds the staff in his hand, to lead him on the straight path, not veering to the right or to the left. This is the meaning of the [next] verse, “For he whom the Lord loves He rebukes, and He reconciles like a father with a son” (Proverbs 3:12). But one who does not love the Holy One, blessed be He, but hates Him, will disregard [divine] rebuke and disregard the staff. (Zohar 3:114b)

Not only are punishments meant to inspire the nation to repent; the same is true of blessings. When we receive goodness from God and recognize His greatness, we realize how severe it is when we rebel against Him.

The creative punishment a king gave to the simple man who rebelled against him:

This can be likened to a villager who rebelled against the king by striking and throwing stones at the king’s statue, or the like. The king promptly appointed him to an official post, and elevated him from position to position until he became viceroy. The more the king showered goodness upon him, the greater the position to which he was elevated, and the more he saw of the king’s grandeur, attendants, and customs – the greater was the remorse that [the official] who had been a [simple] villager felt when he remembered how he had rebelled against this great and merciful king, who showered goodness upon him when he was deserving of punishment. The king did all of this intentionally, for had he put the villager to death, the latter would have experienced pain for only a short time. But in the manner described above, the villager felt remorse his whole life. [In fact, his remorse] constantly increased. As he reached more elevated positions he experienced greater remorse over his audacity in rebelling against such an honorable [king].

Punishment is given in a merciful way:

This is the meaning of the verse: “God of vengeance, Lord” (Psalms 94:1). God’s vengeance is via His attribute of mercy, unlike a king of flesh and blood. The reason is [as the end of the verse states]: “God of vengeance, appear,” meaning that the vengeance is [carried out] by showing [the sinner] His greatness. When [the sinner] sees the King’s greatness and remembers that he sinned against this King, there is no greater pain. (Ba’al Shem Tov, Keter Shem Tov 108)

Further reading: For more on reward and punishment, see A Concise Guide to the Torah, pp. 329, 453, 494, 500; A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 165.