Before there was a crown, there was dust. Before there was a cross, there was a garden. Before the flood, before the wandering, before the blood cried from the ground. There was a voice in the darkness. And when everything was broken, That voice still spoke promise Before the plow had cut the field Before the sea had learned its name Before the stars were hung like fire He spoke and filled the dark with flame You called the morning from the deep You drew the rivers from the stone You breathed the dust and made a man And said this garden was his home The beasts were quiet in the shade The trees were heavy with their fruit The woman stood beside the man And all the earth was pure in truth No wound had yet been born in flesh No grave had opened in the ground Only the wind, the light, the breath And heaven singing all around In the beginning, you were there Light in the void and life in the clay When we were broken, when we were cast out Still you did not turn away Over the waters, over the dust, over the sorrow we could not name You spoke a promise into the night and carried the world with grace But in the garden came a voice that bent our trust and split the peace A whispered hunger for the throne A hand that reached and would not cease The fruit was taken, eyes were torn Innocence gave way to shame We heard your footsteps in the dusk And nothing in the world remained the same The thorns came crawling through the earth The sweat and sorrow took their place The woman wept, the man bowed low Exile burned across each face And east of Eden rose the egg A flaming sword, a closing door We lost the country of your nearness And wandered from it evermore In the beginning you were there Light in the void and life in the clay When we were broken, when we were cast out Still you did not turn away Over the waters, over the dust Over the sorrow we could not name You spoke a promise into the night And carried the world with grace Then blood cried out from broken ground A brother fallen by his kin The cities rose, the violence spread And every heart leaned hard to sin The heavens broke, the fountains burst The ark rode high above the grave A remnant floated through your mercy Carried by the hands that saved Yet even dry land did not heal The pride of man climbed brick by brick A tower reaching for your height A name we made with lips too quick You scattered tongues across the earth You split the roads of tribe and land Still through the ruin and the striving You moved with an unseen hand Then to a wanderer you called Come from your father's house and go Lift up your eyes and count the stars If mortal eyes can count that glow I'll make from dust a covenant I'll bless the nations through your line Though years are long and wounds are barren My word will stand through time Isaac laughed beneath the promise Jacob dreamed with stone for bed Angels moved between the worlds And mercy followed where he fled Through wrestling nights and wounded faith Through sons divided, famine, fear You kept alive what you had spoken Though the road ran hard and severe In the beginning you were there Light in the void and life in the clay When we were broken, when we were cast out Still you did not turn away Over the waters, over the dust Over the generations wandering in pain You kept your promise alive in the dark And carried the world with grace A favored son was sold for silver Cast down to strangers far from home Yet through the prison and the silence Your hidden purpose still moved on For what was meant to curse and bury You turned to shelter and to bread A family bruised by sin and envy Was kept alive instead So Israel came down to Egypt With all his children old and worn Not at the end but at the threshold Of another fire, another dawn The grave was near the promised Father Still not dead, still not undone For in this book of first beginnings Your promise had already begun In the beginning, you were there Light in the void and life in the clay When we were broken, when we were cast out But still you did not turn away Over the waters, over the dust Over the generations wandering in pain You kept your promise alive in the dark And carried the world with grace