1

The word Tao means Way.  The Tao the Ching, means The Royal Way, or The Way of the Royal.
The Tao the Ching does not profess to speak of God.  The Tao is not God, but an observation of the Way of God.  The Way emanates from God, it flows out of God and returns back to God.  The Way is the Godly flow of all.  This flow of the Way gives birth to things and receives things again when it ceases to be.  All things, seen and unseen are in one or another way part of the Way of God.
The Tao is the flow of God’s Energy which essentially emanates from and flows back to God.
The author, Lao Tzu, states that human understanding of the Way is older than our understanding of God (Ch 4).  Humans first came into contact with, and started understanding The Way, before they eventually formed concepts of The God which emanates The Way.  The author is however not content with the notion of naming God, making the Ultimate One a particular in human terms.

The Tao the Ching deals exclusively with The Way.