3/29/09 Psalm

RCL reading for Sunday, March 29, 2009:
Excerpt from The New Revised Standard Version
via Oremus (http://bible.oremus.org)

Psalm 51:1-13

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgement.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

QUESTIONS
This is listed as a “Psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” Can you explain that background with a little more detail?
In verse 7, what does “Purge me with hyssop” mean?
In verse 8, do you think the psalmist is referring to bones that are literally “crushed” Why or why not?