Gregory the Dialogist

For Thou writest bitter things against me. For seeing that every thing we speak passes away, but what we write remains, God is said not to 'speak,' but to 'write bitter things,' in that His scourges upon us last for long. For it was said once to man, when he sinned, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return? And Angels many times appearing gave commandments to men. Moses, the lawgiver, restrained sins by severe means. …

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Third, since someone could object that God punished him because of the sins which he committed in his youth, he also rejects this by saying, "Do you break a dry stalk? Do you write bitter things against me, and do you want to consume me for the sins of my youth?" For a man in his youth is compared to green grass, but in his old age he is compared to a dry stalk. It seems that to punish a man in his old age for the sins of his youth is as though someone should rage violently against a stalk for not being green grass. …

Commentary on Job ↗