I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Nehemiah 4:12 When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
Nehemiah 4:13 Therefore I set guards in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places. I set the people by family groups with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
Nehemiah 4:14 I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Nehemiah 4:15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
Nehemiah 4:16 From that time forth, half of my servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
The verse centers on "looked", "rose", "said", "nobles", "rulers", "rest", "people", and "afraid". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "looked" and "rose", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Therefore I set guards in the lowest..." into verse 15's "When our enemies heard that it was...", so "looked" and "rose" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "looked" and "rose" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.