Capricious or Arbitrary?

The idea that God is either capricious or arbitrarily choosing to make the world look older than it is strikes me as rather absurd! My main objection to the “The world was ‘ready-made’” claim is how arbitrary it is, given the numerous varied age samples; the age of a stream, of a lineage of trees and years of ice fall on the Antarctic. Assuming God made the world, and holding that the world was already “aged” to a mature appearance, we have no evidence, either physical or religious, why God chose those ages. Since I view the alternative, he arbitrarily chose the ages, as unlikely and discomforting, and we can’t very well hold he’s trying to deceive us, which is in stark contrast to the Bible which describes God as a parent who tries to show humanity the way to him.

We’re left with at least two choices in deciding how to act, either God did not make the world as described in either Genesis 1 or 2, or God did not make the world. I’ll admit this is a solution a Christian may object to, but unless they invalidate years of scientific research and discovery, they too will eventually agree to the reasonable implications.
How much of it was inspired by the literal interpretation of the Bible? Rather than denying the perceived age the universe and holding to a contradictory understanding of the Bible, they could accept a sort of compatibilism.

My criticisms fall back once again the critical view I hold of a literal understanding of the Bible. The concern that taking it as anything less would lead to a slippery slope of figurative interpretation, while possible, yields an equally worthless understanding of the Book. Since we must take the choice between the horns, focusing on method of interpretation in lieu of discarding science or religion will produces a better understanding of the Truths to be found, and improve ones relationship with el jeffe, God.