Ed Sheeran – Altogether Perfect, Forever Flawless✨

Happy Fangirl Friday, friends, and welcome to another installment of The Gospel According to, where we listen for the harmony of God’s voice in the best of humanity’s melodies. This week, I was thinking about the song “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran and the fact that there are not one but Several different Bible verses that match it almost perfectly. Enjoy!

Fandom: Ed Sheeran, “Perfect”

Verses: Song of Solomon 4:7, Hebrews 9:14, 1 John 1:9, Titus 2:14, Jude 1:24

Truth: In Christ, God sees us as absolutely flawless and perfect.

The Melody: Sincere Love and Affection

This song is hugely popular for a reason ✨ I believe it speaks to our universal desire to be loved, and it does so in a very positive and uplifting way. The lyrics of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” describe the enraptured feeling of a lover as he gazes on his beloved. He sees everything that he ever wanted in her, and in his eyes, she can do no wrong. It’s the perfect song for the highs of a romantic relationship, though it can be a bit hard to listen to during the lows or the hard moments, when human emotions and opinions change.

But what if there was another voice singing this song, one whose opinion of us will never change?

The Harmony: Altogether Perfect in Christ

The first thing that I think of when I hear this song is a verse from Song of Solomon:

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

Song of Solomon 4:7 ESV

This verse comes in context of a couple who has just gotten married, in the middle of a poetic passage where the man praises his new wife’s beauty. The wonder of poetry like this (and the reason it’s one of my favorite Biblical genres!) is the fact that it can have multiple meanings. In this case, many scholars agree that Song of Solomon is both a celebration of love and marriage AND a metaphor for the relationship between Christ and the church. Which makes it an AMAZING book to read, even as a single person.

I wanted to share a quote that David Guzik cites in his commentary on Song of Solomon 4 that made me cry when I read it the other day:

“But to hear Christ turn round upon his Church, and seem to say to her ‘Thou hast praised me, I will praise thee; thou thinkest much of me, I think quite as much of thee; thou usest great expressions to me, I will use just the same to thee. Thou sayest my love is better than wine, so is thine to me; thou tellest me all my garments smell of myrrh, so do thine; thou sayest my word is sweeter than honey to thy lips, so is thine to mine. All that thou canst say of me, I say it teach to thee; I see myself in thy eyes, I can see my own beauty in thee; and whatever belongs to me, belongs to thee. Therefore, O my love, I will sing back the song: thou hast sung it to thy beloved, and I will sing it to my beloved.’”

Charles Spurgeon

Thous and thees aside, this quote essentially says that, as we praise Jesus for His beauty and His grace and His Word, He sings our song of praise and love back to us. He sees Himself in us, and that makes us beautiful, both in His eyes and in the eyes of God the Father. AHhhhhhhhhhh so beautiful 🤩😭😻🙌

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Want to read more about our identity in Christ? You’ll 🤩 these posts!

• Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved, No Matter What
• Anne With an E and Sleeping At Last – You are enough.
• Imagine Dragons’ Next To Me (This one made me cry a little 🤩😭💖)

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Forever Flawless

The idea of the Church as the Bride of Christ and being perfect in His eyes kind of makes me think of the anxiety/anticipation of meeting your future spouse’s parents for the first time. Wondering what they will think of you, what you will think of them — will they approve of you as the Person that their son or daughter has chosen to marry? This is stressful enough with humans, but imagine how intense it would be when the Person whose approval you seek is Almighty God, the Creator and Master of Life, the Universe and Everything?!?!

Yikes. If we’re relying on my own merit here, I may as well back out right away, because there’s no way He will approve of me. Luckily, it doesn’t depend on me:

Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, both now and forever. Amen.

Jude 1:24 ESV

Amen, amen, amen! In Christ, we are approved of by God the Father and can stand confidently in His presence, blameless and with great joy, forever and always 💖

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about Ed Sheeran’s song “Perfect” and our status in the eyes of Jesus and of God the Father. I’d love to hear how you responded to the commentary I mentioned above, or anything else you might have to say about this lovely song. And if you’d like to journal this song for yourself, be sure to check out the free printable available in my ko-fi shop!

Happy fangirling!