This is in the Tefilla in Rabbeinu Yona's Yesod HaTeshuva, too. 

The Nesivos shalom brings the R yonah as a proof to this concept. IMHO its hard to bring a proof from there as R yona appears to be speaking from a practical standpoint before one does tshuva, as not to be weighed down by his deppressing amount of aveiros. The rambam who says ayn zu ohso shechata is a pretty good proof though.Yes, I meant to quote the Rambam.

On a lower level - when one expresses Charata by saying "Meh Asisi, He'ach Lo Haya Pachad Elokim Lineged Ayni etc" he is actually saying - "from the place that I stand now I can't understand how I could possibly have done that!"

The pasuk says "and they will say on that day because G-d is not with me, all these evil things have found me. And I will hide my face..." The ramban asks if the Yidden did vidui and said its bec Hashem is not with them, why does it lead to a hester ponim? The Maharam Shiff (also R simcha bunim mpshischa, and meshech chochma) says, that in reality saying Hashem is not with us is in it of itself an aveira as it can lead to yiush. The reality is Hashem is always with us "bchol tzarasom lo tzur" ( RSB adds that in mitzrayim we were in 49th level of tuma and Hashem still took us out). For us not recognizing this, the punishment is measure for measure, "and I will surely hide my face". The lesson for us is plain to see.

Yaakov and Esav. The poster children for good and bad guys, no? Why then did Yitzchak think Esav was deservant of the brachos? The Nesivos shalom (similiar idea in the be'er yosef) explains that Yitzchak thought (bec of Esavs trickery) that Esav was a person filled with yetzer horas and was doing whatever he could to fight them. Because the tafkid of the world is to fight the yetzer hora, and the darker the YH the more it is fulfilling Hashems will (Paraphrasing ayin sham), therefore he felt Esav deserved the brachos more than Yaakov who sat and learnt all day seemingly unchallenged. This explains a puzzling Midrash. When he came to smell his begadim the midrash says vayarech es reyach "bogdav" those who rebelled against Hashem, like Yosef Meshisa, who rebelled against Hashem and at his last moment did Tshuva. He then decided to give the blessings to the person in front of him. Why them? Werent there many heilige tzaddikim more worthy of a cause to be the catalyst for the brachos? The answer is because they bring Hashem that precious praise from the depths and fulfill the taphkid of the Briah. Therefore because of them and all of us here fighting the toughest YHs in history, Yaakov was deservant of the brachos!

The midrash (B"R 87 6) says, "the children of rachel were tested equally and their greatness is equal. By Yosef it says 'she spoke to him daily and he did not listen' by Mordechai (from Binyamin) it says 'and they told him daily (to bow) and he did not listen'" 
R Leib Bakst explains that the way of the YH is to introduce a sin and it is immediately rejected. But then he does it again and again and again. Eventually, he wears the person down (as we all know all too well). Both Mordechai and Yosef withstood these types of tests and therefore merited "equal greatness", i.e. they both inherited the throne. The test is great but the reward is greatness to the level of Mordechai's and Yosef's!

Last week we had some of the harshest curses ever written, written about us. The question bothered me so much how can an av harachaman do this to punish his children so severely? How does the Torah go on to call it a bris? What's the treaty? In this weeks parsha, Rashi says that the yidden were petrified maybe we would be wiped out. Moshe told them calm down you angered Hashem and your still here. What is going on? First of all how can Moshe tell them it won't happen? The Torah seems dead serious. Also, right after we have someone who is punished because he thinks bshrirus libi eylech rashi says he thinks the tochacha won't happen. It seems we are supposed to be scared. Also, what is the proof that the Jews were still around? First of all, they didnt yet have the “bris” so they wouldnt have been punished for that. (rashi says that the tochacha was only chal after they crossed the yarden) Also, the entire generation was wiped out because of their aveiros what does it mean you angered hashem and are still here?

Rashi continues and says Hayom, the yissurin stand you up and situate you in front of him. This seems out of context.  I believe all of this points to a completely different understanding. The Jews were scared that the tochacha was a punishment, which meant if they acted bad enough, they would be punished till the nation was wiped out. Moshe told them just as you have angered Hashem and have had consequences, yet those consequences didnt wipe you out, aderaba you are standing tall and proud today. The yissurin somehow succeeded in making you a nation ready to enter e”y. So too all the yissurin of the tochacha are there to make you grow into a nation in front of Hashem not as a punishment. The bris ensures our continuance. That despite all we may do Hashem will help us survive and thrive through and because of the pain. Its also a bris because Hashem is with us in the pain. He wont just say forget it dont grow, dont get the yissurin, why should I have to suffer. Rather despite his own pain kaviyachol, he still is with us through it all.

We are like those yidden. We see crazy things happening all around us and are terrified. What will be with klal yisrael? Let's look back to the Holocaust. Basically the most terrible massacres in history. Yet a few generations later we are somehow thriving. Torah is being learned in a way we never had for hundreds of years on a global scale. We are growing and shteiging in ways unimaginable a few years ago. Lets look back and say as we grew from those tribulations so we will grow from these yissurin to be Hashems special and great nation!