Something incredible happens when you give yourself enough space with a single passage to let it seep deep into the marrow of your soul. Today’s post is less explanation, more experiment. Grab a piece of paper to take notes on and just roll with it, okay?
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
(Isaiah 26:19, ESV)
How does this passage stir your heart? What emotions come up?
But friends, your dead will live, your corpses will get to their feet. All you dead and buried, wake up! Sing! Your dew is morning dew catching the first rays of sun, the earth bursting with life, giving birth to the dead.
(Isaiah 26:19, MSG)
How does this passage stir your mind? What thoughts, questions, and images arise?
Your people will rise to life! Tell them to leave their graves and celebrate with shouts. You refresh the earth like morning dew; You give life to the dead.
(Isaiah 26:19, CEV)
What does this passage tell you about God? About people?
Those of our people who have died will live again! Their bodies will come back to life. All those sleeping in their graves will wake up and sing for joy. As the sparkling dew refreshes the earth, so the Lord will revive those who have long been dead.
(Isaiah 26:19, GNT)
How does this passage point you to the person and work of Jesus?
But Your dead will live; their lifeless bodies will rise up again! You who sleep in the dust, get up and shout for joy! The dew of a new day will wash you glistening fresh, and the earth will push forth those who had passed before.
(Isaiah 26:19, VOICE)
In response to this passage, what might God be inviting you to believe?
Yet we have this assurance: Those who belong to God shall live again. Their bodies shall rise again! Those who dwell in the dust shall awake and sing for joy! For God’s light of life will fall like dew upon them!
(Isaiah 26:19, TLB)
In response to this passage, what might God be inviting you to be?
Your people have died, but they will live again; their bodies will rise from death. You who lie in the ground, wake up and be happy! The dew covering you is like the dew of a new day; the ground will give birth to the dead.
(Isaiah 26:19, NCV)
In response to this passage, what might God be inviting you to do?
Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.
(Isaiah 26:19, NET)
Christmas is coming, the birth which leads to the death which leads to the resurrection of every heart clinging to those nail-scarred hands. This, friends, this is our hope. If you’re grieving a fresh loss, look to Jesus. If you’re celebrating new life, look to Jesus. If you’re just trying to keep your head above water and survive this season, look to Jesus. There are dead places in us all—will we hear this call of triumph and come awake?
The Dwelling Place 
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