So God's Word makes it clear that the earth was covered with water before the seven days of (re)creation and 1000 years before Noah's flood. (True) science, as always, eventually bears out the truth of the Bible.
The “deep” was the initial creation. It was a sphere of water about two light years in diameter, that was expanded (Raqia) into the entire universe. The waters above the firmament are still there, bounding the entire universe. They have been observed by orbiting telescopes, and by the Keck.
When this water was expanded, time itself was also expanded, inasmuch as time and space are inseparable, and that is the source of the apparent contradiction of the obviously very young Earth, and the distant, thus ancient stars.
A little reading comprehension can go a long way on this. There isn’t any other creation mentioned anywhere, and such a previous creation would mock the meaning of “and God saw that it was very good.”
Read D R Humphreys’ Starlight and Time.