Matthew 6:16–18 (ESV)
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Psalm 26 draws a contrast with the believer and the hypocrite. The believer looks to honour and serve God while the hypocrite is content to do what is evil. His aim is not to please the Father but to serve himself. This song would be a good song to sing in response to God’s Word, a testimony to the kind of changes that the Spirit is working in the lives of God’s people and our growing desire to keep in step with God’s ways.
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.