In our text Job makes his lament to God loud and clear, "Today also my complaint is bitter." The word bitter seems to carry the feeling of defiance in the wake of grievance and complaint. Job earlier has spoken of the bitterness of his soul:Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (7:11)I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint. (10:1)

Here Job is correlating his own bitter defiance with the unrelenting pressure of God's hand upon his life. Job insists on seeking a resolution for his complaint not through the traditional religious practices of prayer and lament (as in the Psalms), but through a legal hearing, because he feels that he has a case against God. But Job is confronted with a …