The Mekhilta offers a poetic interpretation of the Song of Songs, reading its romantic language as a dialogue between God and Israel — and locating that dialogue in specific moments of biblical history.
"For your voice is sweet," the verse says. When was Israel's voice sweetest to God? At the Red Sea. When the waters split and the Egyptian army drowned, the entire nation burst into song: "I shall sing to the Lord, for He is exalted over all the exalted" (Exodus 15:1). This was the moment when Israel's collective voice rose in praise for the first time — a spontaneous eruption of gratitude so pure that God Himself found it sweet. The people who had been slaves hours earlier were now singers, and their song was the most beautiful sound in creation.
"And your face is fair," the verse continues. The Mekhilta connects this to (Psalms 8:3): "From the mouths of babes and sucklings You have founded strength." Even the youngest children — infants still nursing at their mothers' breasts — recognized God at the Red Sea and pointed toward the heavens. Their innocent faces, turned upward in wonder, were the "fair face" that the verse describes.
The psalm continues: "When I see Your heavens..." — the wonder of creation itself reflects back the beauty of the people who recognize it. God sees Israel's face as fair because Israel sees God's heavens with awe. The relationship is reciprocal. Israel's voice is sweet because it sings to God. Israel's face is fair because it looks toward God. Beauty, in the Mekhilta's reading, is a function of devotion.