Nehemiah could simply have written, I told no one about my plans for Jerusalem.
By using the longer formulation, however, Nehemiah was confessing that his plans originated not from himself but from God above. Note again the phrase my God,
a repeat of the words Nehemiah had used in Nehemiah 2:8. This is the God whom Nehemiah had earlier confessed was the God of heaven…the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love
(Nehemiah 1:5), to whom Nehemiah had poured out his heart and pleaded on his promises. With the present formulation, Nehemiah acknowledges that God’s answer to his prayer (Nehemiah 1:5–11) extends beyond God bending the king to commission him (Nehemiah 2:6) and ensuring protection for the journey (Nehemiah 2:9) to include also concrete plans to repair Jerusalem’s walls. This awareness that he is acting as God’s emissary is foundational to Nehemiah’s thinking and conduct as detailed in the remainder of this chapter and beyond.
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.