Psalm 62:8 - The Proper Way to Fill Out a Complaint Form

I was recently reading from the Psalms,
"...I call out to God. And the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I groan and cry out. And he hears my voice." (Psalm 55:16–17, New International Readers Version)

On the other hand, we are instructed:
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing..." (Philippians 2:14, New American Standard Bible 1995)

An example from the ancient Israelites gives a warning:
"...don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death."
(1 Corinthians 10:10, New Living Translation, 2015)

So when is it wrong to have a complaint? When is it okay to "groan and cry out?" Take a look at that story from the Old Testament. Pay attention to the pronouns in the original account...

The Israelites had been grumbling against Moses and Aaron, rebelling against their leadership. (Numbers 16:4) God said that they were ultimately grumbling against Him (Numbers 17:10)

If someone is willing to grumble against God, they'll grumble about people, too. In the New Testament,
"...the Jews were grumbling about {Jesus}, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” (John 6:41–42, NASB95)

Grumbling can be contagious; all it takes is one person to get it going. It may not even be verbal. It may be a disgusted sigh, or an eyeroll. So when the Jews were grumbling about Jesus,
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Do not grumble among yourselves.'" (John 6:42, NASB95)

This was toxic gossip! People who are willing to grumble among themselves end up grumbling against each other. James warns us,
"Don’t grumble about (or 'against,' NASB) each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged..." (James 5:9, NLT)

Rephrasing the original question:
Is it more godly to never complain, to always put on a happy face?

The key is the prepositions: we are to complain TO God, not AGAINST God.

"O my people," the Psalmist wrote, "Trust in {God} at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge." (Psalm 62:8, NLT. See October 6, 2020 - Psalm 62:1-8 - The Silent Soul)

Father, deepen our trust in You so that we can confidently pour out our heart TO You, and not just complain ABOUT You. In Jesus' name, Amen.