Degeneration (Adultery, Lies, Murder) David’s progressive desensitization, relaxation, fixation, and rationalization set him up for one of the greatest falls in history — and his degeneration. “Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant’ ” (vv. 4, 5). David was unaware he had stepped off the precipice and was falling, and