Dwight Bradley, in Leaves from a Spiritual Notebook, defined worship with these beautiful words:
“For worship is a thirsty land crying out for rain,
It is a candle in the act of being kindled,
It is a drop in quest of the ocean,
It is a voice in the night calling for help,
It is a soul standing in awe before the mystery of the universe,
It is time flowing into eternity,
… a man climbing the altar stairs to God.”
We can worship anywhere and at any time. We may worship God privately or along with others in our churches. When we worship in church on Sunday, we confess our sins through spoken words and pledge our love and loyalty to God. Some of the most significant words in the Bible are words of pledge and promise from the lips of individuals who were committing themselves to God in an act of worship. For example:
Joshua, as he stood on the banks of the Jordan River with the Children of Israel poised to enter the Promised Land, renewed his commitment to God by saying to the Israelites, “Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
King David, when confronted with the enormity of his sins, cried out, “Cleanse me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you” (Psalm 51:7-13).
When the prophet Isaiah was in the Temple on the Sabbath day and heard the Lord calling for someone He could send to proclaim His message, he cried out, “Here am I, Lord, send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
On one occasion as Jesus walked through Samaria an enthusiastic young man rushed up to Him and cried out, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go” (Luke 9:57).
Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37).
All of these are words of commitment. However, words alone do not constitute commitment. There is a degree of precariousness in making such verbal commitments. We know this well by our own innumerable failures to translate the words we have spoken into obedient activity in everyday living.
Nor did Peter follow through with heroic commitment to the words he had spoken to Jesus – that is, not until the hours following Christ’s resurrection when he was restored to a loving and obedient relationship with the Lord. He later became a martyr for his faith. The words of commitment we speak to God in times of worship must be not only sincere but followed by obedience.
The Paper Pulpit 
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