Malcolm is hesitant to return to Scotland when Macduff arrives because he does not trust Macbeth. He's afraid that Macbeth has sent Macduff to trick him into returning so that Macbeth can kill him. He says that "Devilish Macbeth / By many of these trains hath sought to win me / Into his power, and modest wisdom plucks me / From overcredulous haste" (4.3.136-139). This is why Malcolm tests Macduff, by telling him all manner of really terrible (but untrue) things about himself. Malcolm assumes that if Macduff really cares about Scotland, as he says, then he would never want such a monster to rule. The fact that Macduff keeps insisting that Malcolm should come home, regardless of how bad he makes himself sound, only makes Malcolm suspect him more.
Malcolm has committed himself to a truly godly life, a fact that he reveals once he becomes certain of Macduff's loyalty to Scotland and not Macbeth. The covenant he's made with God differentiates him from Macbeth in a really significant way. Macbeth has become so ruthlessly vicious and evil, even murdering Macduff's innocent wife and children in cold blood, and Malcolm, on the other hand, has never even told a lie until he lied to Macduff during his test. Malcolm is essentially Macbeth's total opposite, and that bodes well for Scotland's future.
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