Isaiah 26

"Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead." v.19

Read chapter 26

This chapter is a song that will be sung in "that day" in the land of Judah.  "That day" refers to not the return into the land after the Babylonian/Assryian captivity, but to the future day into God's kingdom.  We know this from the description throughout this psalm of what has yet to happen and by comparing other scriptures describing "that day."  (It'd be a cool idea to do a word study on the phrase "that day" to see the descriptions that follow and determine how many "that days" are there or if it always refers to the same.)

Verse 19 speaks of the resurrection of the dead.  Another clear picture of what they knew of death, that it was returning to the dust and waiting to be resurrected into God's glorious kingdom.  The hope wasn't "go to heaven when I die" but when your dead your dead but will rise from the dust in that future day; a sure hope just as Christ rose from the dead.  1 Corinthians 15:12-19 says "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable."  

I love the description of awaking and singing.  It's the first thing that I want to do when I raise from the dead to praise God and the first thing I try to do when I awake from sleep each day today.  Do you wake up with Christ first thing on your mind?