Books by OP Green

How well are the psalms understood? The parables seem more accessible, but are they? And as familiar as we are with the texts of the psalms and the parables, how open are we to new perspectives on them?The studies in Like a Tree Planted, the first volume in the Connections series, encourage readers to deepen their understanding of the psalms and parables and to grow in their relationship with God. Like a Tree Planted invites reflection on eight pairs of psalms and parables by highlighting their shared metaphor. These images, familiar from our everyday lives as well as from both testaments, encourage fresh insights from familiar scriptural texts.The psalms presented here, all from the first book of the Psalter, and the parables, selected from Luke's Gospel, speak deeply and collaboratively through figures of the tree, our stature and status, searching faces, feelings of entitlement and responsiveness, the ecosystem, shepherding, the storehouse, and "the other side."An introductory chapter in Like a Tree Planted introduces readers to the process of reading metaphorically, and a concluding chapter draws implications from the reading of these particular psalm and parable texts as a set.

Questioning how readers construct meaning, this work focuses on the character Jonah and explores the variety of ways in which the prophet and the book have been represented and understood by various interpreters.

Who should lead us? Who should we, as a community, look to for guidance? These questions followed the Israelite community upon their return from the Exile: Should they return with Davidic kingship or without it? Their answer was King Saul. Reading Israel's first king as a riddle or the epitome of Israel's experience with kingship, King Saul's Asking explores the characterization of the figure Saul, the question of the apparent silence of God, the multiple complexities of responsibility for kingship, and the readers' opportunities for transformation. It is not only an in-depth character study but also an interesting, insightful read, and opportunity for transformation.