The Gate Liturgy, Pt. 1

The psalm before us is what the Biblical scholars call a "gate liturgy," a formal question-and-answer routine posed at the entrance to a sacred space. In the context of Biblical religion, we should picture a priest standing at the gate of the tabernacle and asking every Israelite who approaches, "Who can abide in Yahweh's tent? Who can dwell on His holy hill?"
Then the Israelite answers with the words of Psalm 15, perhaps affirming in some way that these things are true of him. Only then does the guard priest pull aside the gate curtain and allow the would-be worshiper to enter Yahweh's tent.
Now, obviously Ps 15 is not formatted exactly for this ritual. It is instead a prayer offered to God that describes the twelve qualifications necessary for the one who would dwell with God. This psalm concludes the previous mini-series of psalms on human depravity that stretch from from 9-14. There is none righteous, no, not one — but there is one righteous man who is welcome in Yahweh's holy tent. In fact, His entrance into the holy tent is the key to the salvation of the world, as Hebrews makes clear. Ps 15, in other words, answers the question posed by Pss 9-14. If everyone is so wicked, what hope does the human race have? How can there even be a righteous generation, a people of God who can enter His dwelling place? The answer is that this can happen and has happened only through the work of the perfect man who perfectly entered the presence of God with His own blood and thereby opened the way to heaven for all who are united to Him by faith. As we will see, the major point of Ps 15 is that the righteous man, and He only, is allowed in the house of the LORD.