FOCUS TEXT: PSALM 98

O sing to the LORD a new song, for the Lord has done marvelous things.  God’s right hand and holy arm have gained victory.  The LORD has made known this victory; God has revealed this vindication in the sight of the nations.  God has remembered God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.  Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.  With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the Sovereign, the LORD.  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.  Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord, for God is coming to judge the earth.  God will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters…. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” ...And God saw that it was good…. And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” …God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 
Genesis 1:1-25
 
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”    
Genesis 9:8-11
 
For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.  But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.  I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress...  They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.  They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
Isaiah 65:17-22
 
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? …Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?  Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?”
Job 38:1-7, 34-41

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God… in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 
Romans 8:19-21

LECTIONARY TEXTS:
Isaiah 65:17-25                     
Isaiah 12                             
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13           
Luke 21:5-19

Texts are from the NRSV.